History of Savannah Georgia begins on Yamacraw Bluff above the Savannah River in February 1733. General James Oglethorpe led 114 colonists there aboard the ship Anne. Chatham County’s low bluff offered defense, fresh water, and access to the Atlantic. Oglethorpe befriended the Yamacraw chief Tomochichi before laying out the town. That early alliance let Savannah grow peacefully into Georgia’s first city and busiest port.
Georgia received its royal charter from King George II in 1732. Oglethorpe sailed from England that November with settlers seeking a fresh start. The group landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 12, 1733. Chief Tomochichi granted the colonists permission to settle nearby. Their friendship spared Savannah the violent conflicts that troubled other early colonies.
Oglethorpe personally designed Savannah’s unique grid of wards and squares. The plan grouped homes, trustee lots, and public squares into tidy blocks. Twenty-four squares originally anchored the city’s neighborhoods and market life. Bull Street, named for Oglethorpe’s aide William Bull, became the main thoroughfare. Today, twenty-two of the original squares still shape downtown Savannah.
Reverend George Liele organized a Black Baptist congregation near Savannah in 1773. He preached to enslaved worshippers along the Savannah River before the Revolution. Andrew Bryan later carried the congregation forward as First African Baptist Church. Members built their current sanctuary on Franklin Square in 1859. The church remains among the oldest Black congregations in North America.
British troops captured Savannah in December 1778 during the Revolutionary War. American and French forces attempted to retake the city the next year. Polish cavalry commander Casimir Pulaski led the allied assault on October 9, 1779. He was mortally wounded, and the attack ultimately failed. Consequently, the British held Savannah until 1782, near the war’s end.
By the early 1800s, Savannah had become a major Atlantic cotton port. Planters shipped cotton and rice downriver for export to Europe. That trade built grand townhouses along the city’s shaded squares. However, the same economy depended heavily on enslaved labor throughout the region. Savannah’s wealth and its hardships grew from this same river trade.
General William Tecumseh Sherman reached Savannah in December 1864 during his March to the Sea. Confederate troops abandoned the city rather than face a lengthy siege. Savannah’s mayor surrendered peacefully, sparing it from the destruction seen elsewhere. Sherman then telegraphed President Lincoln, offering him the captured city as a gift. Because Savannah surrendered without a fight, its historic buildings survived the war.
Juliette Gordon Low was born on Oglethorpe Avenue in Savannah in 1860. She later organized the country’s first Girl Guide troop there in 1912. Low’s movement soon became known nationally as the Girl Scouts of the USA. Her birthplace is now a National Historic Landmark and museum. Girl Scout councils still operate several historic sites across the city.
Savannah’s downtown fell into serious decline during the mid-twentieth century. In 1954, the city demolished its historic City Market for a parking garage. That loss, and a threat to the Davenport House, alarmed local residents. Seven women organized the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955 to fight back. Their revolving fund has since helped save hundreds of historic buildings.
Modern Savannah still centers on Oglethorpe’s original squares and shaded streets. Forsyth Park anchors the southern end of the historic district. Bonaventure Cemetery draws visitors with its oak trees and Victorian sculpture. Meanwhile, the Savannah College of Art and Design occupies many restored historic buildings. Together, these landmarks make Savannah one of the South’s most visited cities.
Savannah’s story runs from a bluff-top colony to a preserved port city. Oglethorpe’s squares, wartime sieges, and cotton wealth all shaped its streets. Sherman spared the city, and later generations chose to save it again. Juliette Gordon Low’s Girl Scouts began here, adding another layer of legacy. Today, that layered history still draws visitors to Georgia’s oldest city.