SAVANNAH,
the largest city and the commercial
metropolis of Georgia, capital of Chatham
co., on the right bank of the Savannah
river, 18 m. from its mouth, and at the terminus
of the Central, Atlantic, and Gulf, and the
Savannah and Charleston railroads, 82 m. in
a direct line and 104 m. by rail S. W. of
Charleston, S. C.; lat. 32° 5′ N., lon. 81° 5′
W.; pop. in 1850, 15,312; in 1860, 22,292; in
1870, 28,235, of whom 13,068 were colored
and 3,671 foreigners. The city is on a sandy
plain about 40 ft. above the river, with one
narrow street below the steep bluff, the
warehouses upon which open below on the level of
the piers, and from the uppermost story on
the other side upon a wide sandy area called
Bay street, which is divided by numerous
carriageways and rows of trees. The whole city
is regularly laid out with broad shaded streets,
and at many of the principal crossings are
open squares with trees. The corporate limits
extend about 1½ m. back from the river,
and include an area of 3⅓ sq. m. The water
front extends in the form of an elongated crescent
about 2½ m. Suburban settlements are
fast springing up S. of the city limits. In this
district a public park of 80 acres, called
Forsyth place, has been laid out. Bonaventure
cemetery, about 4 m. from the city, is reached
by a fine drive. The principal other cemetery
is Laurel Grove, belonging to the municipality.
The residences are mostly surrounded with
flower gardens, which bloom all the year. The
most noticeable public edifices are the city
exchange, court house, state arsenal, barracks,
artillery armory, theatre, St. Andrew's hall,
lyceum, Oglethorpe hall, Chatham academy,
custom house, market house, hospitals, and
asylums. The custom house is of granite, 110
ft. long, 52 ft. deep, and 52 ft. high, and
contains also the post office and United States
court rooms. St. John's and Christ churches
(Episcopal) are respectively Gothic and Ionic
edifices. Several other churches are very hand-
some and commodious, among which is the
independent Presbyterian church, of granite,
costing about $130,000. The Georgia histori-
cal society has a large and beautiful hall. The
reservoir is on a circular tower 80 ft. high;
new pumping works have recently been erected.
There is a monument to Gen. Greene in Johnson
square, and one to the memory of Pulaski
in Monterey square, on the spot where he fell
in the attack on the city in 1779. The harbor
is one of the best on the southern coast. The
depth of water on the bar is 19 ft. at mean low
water, and 26 ft. at mean high water; within, at
the Tybee roads anchorage, the depth is 31 ft.
and 38 ft. respectively. Only 12 ft., however,
at mean low water and 18 ft. at mean high
water can be carried up to the city, and much
dredging is required to keep the channel open
in certain places to this extent. The river
flows between marshy lands, which are
intersected by numerous creeks and artificial
channels, and are cultivated chiefly for rice. Long
narrow islands and spits almost level with the
water occupy a large portion of the space
between the opposite banks, and reduce the main
channel for a considerable part of the way
between the city and the mouth to a width of a
quarter of a mile and even less. From the city
to Hutchinson's island, which extends about 6
m., is only about 600 ft. The chief defences
of the river are Fort Pulaski, a strong fortification
on Cockspur island, at the mouth of the
river, built by the United States at a cost of
$988,859, and Fort Jackson on the right bank,
4 m. below the city, built at a cost of $182,000.
Steamers run regularly up the river to Augusta,
and to New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
Florida, and southern ports.?The chief business
of Savannah is the receipt and shipment
of cotton, though the trade in lumber is also
considerable. As a cotton port it ranks second
in the United States. It recovered rapidly
from the effects of the civil war, and the
value of its commerce has since about doubled.
The following table exhibits the shipments of
cotton and the value of exports for ten years:
|
YEARS
ENDING
JUNE 30.
|
To foreign ports.
|
To
coastwise
ports.
|
Total.
|
Entire value
of exports to
foreign ports.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bales.
|
Value.
|
Bales.
|
Bales.
|
|
1866
|
64,035
|
$12,595,500
|
162,946
|
226,981
|
$12,890,653
|
1867
|
109,874
|
16,298,527
|
147,096
|
256,970
|
16,742,511
|
1868
|
275,138
|
24,174,980
|
239,629
|
514,767
|
24,644,100
|
1869
|
168,008
|
20,433,619
|
187,988
|
355,991
|
21,049,656
|
1870
|
266,854
|
29,258,208
|
204,729
|
470,583
|
29,749,088
|
1871
|
481,509
|
32,504,393
|
252,750
|
734,259
|
32,984,768
|
1872
|
290,091
|
27,829,917
|
155,641
|
445,732
|
28,262,115
|
1873
|
376,198
|
27,125,070
|
229,355
|
605,553
|
27,592,050
|
1874
[1]
|
178,479
|
12,277,160
|
139,110
|
317,589
|
12,440,283
|
1875
[2]
|
459,249
|
31,809,365
|
206,056
|
665,305
|
32,424,495
|
|
The value of imports from foreign countries in
1874 was $788,220; of exports to coastwise
ports, $18,076,451; of all exports, $50,500,946 ;
tonnage entered in the foreign trade 237,619,
cleared 189,399; entered in the coastwise trade
342,673, cleared 377,459. The number of
vessels belonging to the port on June 30, 1874,
was 80, with an aggregate tonnage of 22,170.
The chief manufacturing establishments are
several planing mills, founderies, and flouring
and grist mills. There are a national bank,
with a capital of $750,000; three state banks,
with an aggregate capital of $9,000,000; and
several building and loan associations.?The
city is governed by a mayor and 12 aldermen,
elected biennially. It has a good police force
and an efficient fire department with a
fire-alarm telegraph. The amount of taxable real
estate and improvements is about $14,000,000.
The receipts into the city treasury during 1874
were $988,320 65, of which $362,869 65 were
from loans; expenditures, $975,991 61, of
which $353,505 were to pay floating debt and
bonds. The funded debt oa Jan. 1, 1875,
amounted to $3,600,140, on which the annual
interest is $251,052 90. The principal charitable
institutions are the poorhouse and hospital,
an orphans' home, a dispensary, and an infirmary.
The public schools of the city and of
the county of Chatham are under the management
of a board of education of 12 members.
The schools for white and colored children are
separate. In the year 1874-'5 there were in
the city 6,919 children of school age (3,853
white and 3,066 colored), and 13 public schools
(10 white and 3 colored), all graded, with
61 teachers; average daily attendance, 2,453.
The white schools include two Catholic
institutions. Outside of the city there were 13
ungraded schools (4 white and 9 colored).
The expenditures during the year for all the
schools amounted to $48,350 94, of which
$42,927 96 were for teachers' wages. The schools
are free, being supported mainly by city and
county appropriations. There are several
private schools, and a medical college with 14
professors. Two daily (one German), one
tri-weekly, and four weekly (one German)
newspapers are published. There are 30 churches,
viz.: 9 Baptist (7 colored), 1 Congregational
(colored), 4 Episcopal (1 colored), 2 Jewish,
1 Lutheran, 4 Methodist (2 colored), 4 Presbyterian,
4 Roman Catholic, and 1 undenominational.?Savannah
was founded in February,
1733, by Gen. Oglethorpe. The British
attacked it on March 3, 1776, and were repulsed;
but on Dec. 29, 1778, they took possession of
the city. In October, 1779, the French and
American army under Count D'Estaing and
Gen. Lincoln attempted to recapture it, but
were unsuccessful. In this engagement Count
Pulaski fell, and the French lost 537 in killed
and wounded, and the Americans 241.
Savannah received a city charter in December,
1789. In November, 1796, a fire destroyed
property to the value of $1,000,000; and in
January, 1820, another conflagration occurred,
involving a loss of $4,000,000. On Jan. 3,
1861, two weeks prior to the passage of the
ordinance of secession by the convention of
Georgia, Forts Jackson and Pulaski were seized
by the state troops by order of the
governor. During the war the place was
occupied as a confederate military post and
depot. It was the point on the sea to which
Sherman's march from Atlanta was directed,
and the first serious opposition which he
encountered was about 15 m. N. W. of the city,
the roads to which were obstructed by felled
timber, earthworks, and artillery; but these
obstructions were turned, and on Dec. 10,
1864, the city was fairly invested. The
entrance of the Ogeechee river into Ossibaw
sound was guarded by Fort McAllister, a work
of no great strength, having 23 guns mounted
en barbette
, a mortar, and a garrison of about
200 men. This fort was captured Dec. 13,
with a Union loss of 90 men, and on the 17th
Gen. Hardee, who had about 10,000 men at
Savannah, mostly militia, was summoned to
surrender by Sherman. Hardee refused on
the ground that he still maintained his line
of defence, and was in communication with
his superior officers. Sherman then prepared
to assault, but before his arrangements were
completed Hardee abandoned the city and
retreated to Charleston. The Union army
entered Savannah on Dec. 21. Among the
captures were 25,000 bales of cotton.
Savannah.
- ↑
Six months ending Jan. 1.
- ↑
Year ending Jan. 1.