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Savannah is a city located in the state of Georgia, United States. It is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County.

Location and geography
Savannah is located at 32°3'3N, 81°6'14W (32.050706, -81.103762). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 202.3 km² (78.1 mi²). 193.6 km² (74.7 mi²) of it is land and 8.7 km² (3.4 mi²) of it (4.31%) is water. It is the primary port on the Savannah River and is located along the U.S. Intracoastal Waterway.

Because of its marshiness and flat topography, Savannah is prone to flooding. Four canals and pumping stations have been built to help reduce the effects: Fell Street Canal, Kayton Canal, Springfield Canal and the Casey Canal, with the first three draining north into the Savannah River.

Population and demographics
The city's population was 128,500 in 2005, according to the most recent U.S. Census estimate.

The Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, has a population of 320,013 (2006 estimate), and includes three Georgia counties: Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham. Savannah's MSA is ranked third among Georgia cities. According to the Census Bureau, Savannah's Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which includes metropolitan Savannah and micropolitan Hinesville, has a population of 394,036.

As of the census of 2000, there were 131,510 people, 51,375 households, and 31,390 families residing in the city. The population density was 679.4/km² (1,759.5/mi²). There were 57,437 housing units at an average density of 296.7/km² (768.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 57.08% African American, 38.86% White, 1.52% Asian, 0.23% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.23% of the population.

There were 51,375 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 13.2% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.

Economy
The median income for a household in the city was $29,038, and the median income for a family was $36,410. Males had a median income of $28,545 versus $22,309 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,921. About 17.7% of families and 21.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.4% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Agriculture was the background of Savannah's economy in its first two centuries. Silk and indigo production, both in demand in England, were early export commodities; by 1767 almost a ton of silk per year was exported to England.

The Savannah region's mild climate offered perfect conditions for growing cotton, which became the dominant commodity after the American Revolution. Its production (under the plantation system) helped the city's European immigrants to achieve wealth and prosperity.

The Port of Savannah was one of the most frequented in the United States and Savannah's inhabitants had the opportunity to consume some of the world's finest goods, imported by foreign merchants. Savannah's port has always been a mainstay of the city's economy. In the early years of U.S. history, goods produced in the New World had to pass through ports such as Savannah's before they could be shipped to England.

For years, Savannah was the home of Union Camp, which housed the world's largest paper mill. The plant is now owned by International Paper, and it remains one of Savannah's largest employers. Savannah is also home to the famous Gulfstream Aerospace company, maker of private jets, as well as various other large industrial interests.

Education
Savannah is home to most of the schools in the Chatham County public school system. The city is the home of four colleges and universities offering bachelor's, master's and professional doctorate degree programs: Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah State University, and South University. Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. programs in engineering are also offered through Georgia Tech Savannah, the Savannah campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.South University offers doctorate degrees of pharmacy, and Georgia Southern maintains a satellite campus in the downtown area. Savannah Technical College, a public, 2-year institution of technical and adult education also operates in the city.

Other notable schools include:

Benedictine Military School
Calvary Day School
Herschel V. Jenkins High School
Savannah Christian Preparatory School
Savannah Arts Academy
The Savannah Country Day School

Oatland Island Education Center also a part of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools,and the premier environmental education center in the southeast, serving thousands of students from school systems throughout the region. Located just east of Savannah on a marsh island, the Center features a 2 mile "Native Animal Nature Trail" that winds through maritime forest, salt marsh, and freshwater wetlands. Along the way, visitors can observe native animals such as Florida panthers, Eastern timber wolves, alligators, and many more in their natural habitat.

Transportation
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is located west of Savannah off Interstate 95. Airlines serving this airport are Delta, Delta Connection, Northwest Airlink, Continental Express, United Express, US Airways, Airtran and American Eagle.

Amtrak operates a passenger terminal at Savannah for the Palmetto and Silver Service trains running between Boston, Massachusetts and Miami, Florida with three southbound and three northbound trains stopping at the station daily.

Interstates and major highways
Interstate 95 - Runs north-south just west of the city; provides access to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, and intersects with Interstate 16 which leads into the city's center.

Interstate 16 - Terminates in Downtown Savannah at Liberty and Montgomery Streets, and intersects with Interstate 95 and Interstate 516.

Interstate 516 - An urban perimeter highway connecting Southside Savannah, at DeRenne Avenue, with the industrialized port area of the city to the north; intersects with the Veterans Parkway and Interstate 16, as well. Also known as Lynes Parkway.

Harry S. Truman Parkway - Runs through the eastside of town, connecting the east end of Downtown with Southside Savannah. The road has been under construction since 1992, and is opening in phases with the latest phase opening in 2004. The highway will eventually complete a chain of highways that form a loop around the city that include Interstate 516, Veterans Parkway and the Truman Parkway.

Veterans Parkway - Links Interstate 516 and Southside/Midtown Savannah with South Savannah, and is intended to move traffic quicker from north-south by avoiding high-volume Abercorn Expressway. Also known as the Southwest Bypass.

Abercorn Expressway (S.R. 204) - An extension of Abercorn Street that begins at 37th Street (which is its northern point) and terminates at Rio Road and the Forest River at its southern point, and serves as the primary traffic and commercial artery linking downtown, midtown and southside sections of the city.

Islands Expressway - An extension of President Street to facilitate traffic moving between Downtown Savannah and the barrier islands, as well as the beaches of Tybee Island

Victory Drive (U.S. 80) - Runs east-west through Midtown Savannah and connects the city with the town of Thunderbolt, and the islands of Whitemarsh, Talahi, Wilmington and Tybee. Merges with the Islands Expressway and serves as the only means of reaching the beach by automobile.

History

Savannah was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. Savannah's architecture and history are internationally known, as is its reputation for Southern charm and hospitality; for example, the city's former promotional name was "Hostess City of the South," a phrase still used by the city government. Each year, Savannah attracts millions of visitors from across the country and around the world. Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.

Native settlers
European encroachment
Although Savannah was the first permanent English settlement in Georgia, it was far from the first European encroachment into Yamasee/Creek/Guale lands. As early as the 16th century, Spanish missions and presidios (military outposts) were established all along the Georgia coast. Spanish missions such as Santa Catalina de Guale and Santo Domingo de Talaje, attacked and weakened by the Guale Revolt of 1597, were finally abandoned by the 1680s as a result of continuous encroachment by traders from the Carolina Lowcountry. Hoping to capitalize on the power vacuum created by the Spanish withdrawal to Florida, the British Crown allied itself with the native bands on the Georgia coast, such as the Yamasee, a relatively new Indian group made up of remnants of earlier groups including the Guale.

The Yamacraws, a Native American tribe, were the first known people to settle in and around Savannah. In the 18th century AD under their leader Tomochici, they met the newly arriving European settlers.

Arrival of the British
The Yamasee War
Much has been written about Oglethorpe, his reputation as a reformer and his friendship with the Yamasee and Creek peoples. However, it should be stressed that the alliance between the Yamasee and the English was tenuous at best. Earlier in the 18th century the Yamasee, having become deeply indebted to Carolina traders, were increasingly convinced that this debt would be paid through their enslavement. The Yamasee War of 1715-1717 left the Yamasee weakened and opened their lands to settlement; the Yamasee War enabled the English to establish permanent settlements on the Georgia coast.

In November 1732, the ship Anne sailed from Britain carrying 114 colonists, including General James Oglethorpe. On February 12, 1733, Oglethorpe and his settlers landed at Yamacraw Bluff and, in an example of some of the earliest "Southern hospitality", were greeted by Tomochici, the Yamacraws, and John and Mary Musgrove, Indian traders. (Mary Musgrove often served as a translator.) The city of Savannah was founded on that date, along with the colony of Georgia. Because of the friendship between Oglethorpe and Tomochici, Savannah was able to flourish unhindered by the warfare that marked the beginnings of many early American colonies.

Original design
Meaning of name "Savannah"
According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (with etymologies), the name "Savannah" means "Shawnee"; it derives from a Muskoghean Indian word—a variant of Sawanoki, the native name of the Shawnees. Georgia colonists adopted this name for the Savannah River and then for the city. Residents of Savannah are known as Savannahians.

Savannah's physical layout was the subject of an elaborate plan by the Georgia colony's founders. Oglethorpe's Savannah Plan consisted of a series of wards built around central squares, with trust lots on the east and west sides of the squares for public buildings and churches, and tithing lots for the colonists' private homes on the north and south sites.

The orderly, Neo-classical design of Savannah’s central city was connected to the exterior by three main roads: the Savannah-Augusta to the north, the Savannah-Dublin Road to the west and the King’s Road, which connected Savannah to the English military settlements of Forts Argyle, Barrington and Frederica to the south. Spur roads were located off of the King’s Road as well, and connected plantations such as Wormsloe, home of Noble Jones, to the expanding and increasingly urban market in Savannah.

Growth in the colony
In midsummer 1733, five months after the English colonists, Sephardi Jews from Spain and Portugal arrived in Savannah. Over the next century and a half the city welcomed other non-English and non-Protestant immigrants: Irish Catholics, French Catholics and Huguenots, Greek Orthodox, and others. Savannah remains to this day one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the South.

In 1740, George Whitefield founded the Bethesda Orphanage, which is now the oldest extant orphanage in the United States.

British colony
In 1751, the great experiment came to an end as Savannah and the rest of Georgia became a Royal Colony. Entrepreneurs and slaves were brought into the struggling colony, and Savannah was made the colonial capital of Georgia. The low marshes were converted into wild rice fields and tended by skilled slaves imported from West Africa (where these strains of rice were native). The combination of English agricultural technology and African labor and knowledge proved to be of great benefit for the city.

Initially, Creek groups gradually ceded lands to European settlers that they were not utilizing. In 1763, the Creeks agreed to the first of several large land cessions. This first agreement gave Georgia the land between the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers, south of Augusta, along with coastal land between the Altamaha and St. Marys rivers. An additional two million acres (8000 km²) of land between the Ogeechee and Altamaha rivers and the headwaters of the Oconee and Savannah rivers was ceded to Georgia by the Creeks and Cherokees in 1773.

Additional fortune came to the city in 1763 following the Treaty of Paris, which opened the interior of North America to British economic interests. This was an important milestone in the development of Savannah, as it marks the beginning of economic ties to the interior. Trade, particularly the trade of deerskins, flourished along the upper Savannah River where skins were sent to Augusta and finally through Savannah for export to Europe. The establishment of a trading network on the Savannah River also curtailed Charleston’s monopoly on the South Atlantic deerskin trade. Between 1764 and 1773 Savannah exported hides from 500,000 deer (2 million pounds), which established the city as a significant commercial port on the South Atlantic coast.

American Revolution
Savannah and the American Revolution

In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, Savannah came under British and Loyalist control. At the Siege of Savannah in 1779, American and French troops (the latter including a company of free blacks from Haiti) fought unsuccessfully to retake the city.

Late 1700s
On January 27, 1785, members of the State Assembly gathered in Savannah to found the nation's first state-chartered, public university—the University of Georgia (in Athens). In 1792 the Savannah Golf Club opened within a mile of Fort Jackson, on what is now President Street. It is the first known American golf club.

Economic development
Nineteenth-century development in Savannah was dominated by the emergence of cotton as a widespread cash crop and a subsequent shift in the economy of the city. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney changed the face of agriculture in the American South. Whitney’s gin was produced in response to the state of Georgia’s appointed commission for the promotion of a gin suitable to remove seed from fibers on the short-stable, green-seed cotton. Whitney developed the gin at Mulberry Grove Plantation outside Savannah while he was a tutor to Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene’s children. Sea Island or long-staple cotton had been very profitable in the years immediately following the Revolutionary War, but the production of this variety was relegated to the narrow coastal zone and would not grow in the upland interiors of the South. Green-seed cotton could be grown in the uplands but was difficult to process with the pre-1793 roller gin; consequently, Whitney’s invention opened the interior of the South to widespread cotton production.

The development of Georgia’s interior had a tremendous impact on Savannah, as cotton production was focused on lands, newly appropriated from the Creeks, along the upper Savannah River. Planters on both the Georgia and South Carolina sides of the river shipped their cotton downriver to market and export at Savannah. This increase in trade corresponds to the increase in population, as Savannah is the 18th-largest urban area in the United States by 1820. In 1818 shipping and business stopped temporarily when the city fell under quarantine due to a yellow fever epidemic.

Economic competition
This monopoly on the interior markets does not last long; in 1833, the South Carolina Railroad, extending from Charleston to Hamburg, South Carolina, was completed. The longest rail line of its day, the South Carolina Railroad was primarily built to redirect the export of cotton grown along the Savannah River through Charleston. The siphoning off of cotton markets along the upper Savannah prompted the increased interest in the development of north Georgia. The Central of Georgia Railroad is organized in 1833 to open a commercial line between Savannah and the vast interior of Central and North Georgia. The forcible expulsion of nearly 18,000 Cherokees, following the Indian Removal Act, ensured that north Georgia would be open to settlement and cotton production. The Central of Georgia Railroad extended to Macon by 1843 and to Terminus (later known as Atlanta) by 1846.

In 1828, construction began on the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal, a 16.5-mile canal connecting the Ogeechee River to the southwest (near present-day Richmond Hill) and the Savannah River, slightly to the west of Savannah’s newly established riverfront. The canal was completed in 1831, directing the resources of Georgia’s south-central interior to Savannah.

Despite its small population, Savannah amassed an enormous amount of wealth. By 1820, Savannah was exporting $18 million worth of goods. It is important to recognize, however, that this wealth came about as the result of both the removal of indigenous people from the interior as well as the slave trade. Although originally banned from Georgia, the slave population exceeded the free population in Savannah by the end of the 18th century (5,146 free, 8,201 slave in 1800 ). Little is known about the slave population of Savannah beyond what can be read in census information. We know that between 1810 and 1830, there was a decrease in the number of slaves in the city, which was followed by an increase in the slave population from 9,478 in 1830 to 14,018 in 1850. As the overall free population of the city grew by 68 percent between 1850 and 1860, the slave population remained relatively constant. Additionally, Savannah retained a consistent number of free African Americans throughout the antebellum years (725 in 1860) who engaged in a variety of entrepreneurial activities.

Development of Forsyth Park

Forsyth Park and the Forsyth fountain.By 1853, all original planned wards would be occupied and a large public park was added to the extreme south end of the city plan. This park was anticipated by Oglethorpe's plan and was made possible by a donation of 20 acres of land owned by John Forsythe. The fountain at the center of the park is reminiscent of fountains in the Place de la Concorde in Paris and in Cuzco, Peru. At this time, Parisian urban planning was centered on the development of residential neighborhoods radiating out from a central green space. The Parisian model of developing large city parks was emulated by large cities in the United States, and even smaller cities, such as Savannah, asserting its cosmopolitan image.

U.S. Civil War
Savannah and the U.S. Civil War

“ I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. ”
—General William Tecumseh Sherman in a message telegraphed message to President Lincoln

After capturing the city of Atlanta, General William Tecumseh Sherman began his march south in 1864, with 62,000 men to the port of Savannah, living off the land and causing, by his own estimate, more than $100 million in property damage. Sherman called this harsh tactic of material war "hard war", which is now, in modern times, known as total war.

At the end of this campaign, known as Sherman's March to the Sea, his troops captured Savannah on December 22, 1864. Sherman then telegraphed his Commander-in-Chief President Abraham Lincoln, offering him the city as a Christmas present.

Economic changes
The Savannah Cotton Exchange was established in 1876 and made its permanent home on Bay Street in 1883. The exchange was established to provide cotton factors, brokers serving planters’ interest in the market, a place to congregate and set the market value of cotton exported to larger markets such as New York or London. By the end of the 19th century factorage was on the decline as more planters were selling their product at interior markets, merely to be shipped from Savannah via the extensive rail connections between the city and the interior.

By 1870, three principal railroads — the Central of Georgia, the Savannah and Charleston and the Savannah and Gulf — connected the city to markets along the coast and the interior. The Central of Georgia, whose principal shareholder was the city of Savannah, established its own docks and canals to the west of the existing Savannah riverfront. This marks the first shift of industrial-commercial activity outside of the central plan of the city. An additional railroad was built extending from the Drayton Street Depot out to Tybee Island in 1887. The rate, 1 cent per mile or 17.7 cents each way, enabled city dwellers to escape to the ocean and spend their newfound leisure hours at the beach on Tybee Island. This becomes the first commuter line from Savannah to an outlying area.

As the 19th century continued, Savannah’s population increased slightly, its wealth exponentially and its ranking among the largest U.S. cities steadily dropped. The city went from 41st in 1860 to 62nd in 1880 (the first year Atlanta exceeded Savannah as Georgia’s largest city), to 86th in 1910 until it was no longer ranked in the top 100 most populous cities in 1930.

Diversification in Savannah’s economy arrived as heavy industry and manufacturing entered into the region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Union Camp mill, a division of the American Pulp and Paper Company, was established around the turn of the century, locating their mill upriver from the historic core of the city. Contributing to the trend of upriver industrial development, the Kehoe Iron Works was established in 1883 by Irish immigrant William Kehoe. As working-class residents began to move into neighborhoods adjacent to the new industries, the population of the densely packed historic core of the city began to dissipate. Additionally, building continued to the south of town as the city experienced a 65 percent increase in population between 1900 and 1920 (54,244 in 1900 to 83,252 in 1920).

An additional boost to Savannah's economy arrived with the increased export of naval stores. Items such as pitch and turpentine, recovered from South Atlantic yellow pine, were essential in the manufacture and upkeep of wooden ships. In 1902, the naval stores industry was revolutionized by former University of Georgia chemist Charles Herty. Herty devised a method of collecting the raw sap from yellow pine that was not only more effective than previous methods of extraction but also enabled the trees to live into maturity and be eventually harvested. The harvesting of yellow pine further diversified Savannah’s economy as a lumber exporter. By this time Savannah, with vast yellow pine forests extending far into Georgia’s coastal plain, became the chief exporter of naval stores in the world.

The boll weevil outbreak of the 1920s dealt a devastating blow to the cotton market of Savannah and the South in general. The naval stores industry also fell into decline by World War II as iron had largely replaced wood in the manufacture of ships. Savannah’s economy continued to shift as more heavy industry was added upriver. During World War II Savannah manufacturing aided the war effort through the construction of Liberty ships, further shifting the population out of the historic core of the city.

Development of the tourism industry
In the 1930s and 1940s, many of the distinguished buildings in the historic district were demolished to create parking lots. Squares had been bisected by streets and fire lanes to speed traffic flow. The demolition of the 1870 City Market on Ellis Square and the attempted demolition of the 1821 Davenport House prompted seven Georgia women, led by Davenport descendant Lucy Barrow McIntire, to create the Historic Savannah Foundation, which was able to preserve the city from destruction. In 1979, the Savannah College of Art and Design was founded, and began a process of renovation and adaptive reuse of many notable downtown buildings, rather than building a centralized campus. This effort, along with the work of the Historic Savannah Foundation and other preservation groups, has contributed greatly to Savannah's now-famous rebirth.

The city's popularity as a tourist destination was solidified by the best-selling book and subsequent movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which were set in Savannah.

Public drinking policy
Downtown Savannah's Historic District is one of only five places in the United States where possession and consumption of open containers of alcoholic beverages are allowed on the street (but not in a vehicle), although they remain prohibited throughout the rest of Savannah. Only one open plastic container is allowed per person over the age of 21, and it can be no larger than 16 ounces.

Savannah has also become a popular destination for people to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, including the second largest parade in the U.S. This is aided by a very lenient public drinking policy which allows open alcoholic beverages every day of the year in the Landmark Historic District.

Crime and consolidation
Savannah today is a city with a high rate of violent crime. The mayor, Otis Johnson, has held three open forums on the issue. Murder rates have increased by 50% since 2004 and other types of crime, such as theft, have seen similar spikes.

In 2003, Savannah and Chatham County merged their city and county police departments. Although advertised as a way to cut costs and improve efficiency, the merger has cost more than expected and has not avoided a 100-officer shortage that the department is trying to fix.

While some see the police merger as a step toward city-county consolidation, Savannah is actually one of eight incorporated cities or towns in Chatham County. (The others are Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt, Tybee Island, and Vernonburg). Although these seven smaller localities would remain independent from a consolidated government, they have long opposed any efforts to adopt a city-county merger. One fear is that consolidation would reduce county funding to areas outside of Savannah. Efforts toward city-county consolidation are also opposed by some wealthier Chatham County communities, including The Landings on Skidaway Island, since these residents fear higher tax rates in a consolidated government. However, consolidation is favored by some city and county boosters, including Savannah's main newspaper, and merger plans have been presented to state legislators in the recent past. Should consolidation pass, Savannah would become Georgia's second-largest city, with a population of more than 205,000 (by state law, the almost 35,000 residents of the seven smaller incorporated towns remain independent; they are not included in a Savannah-Chatham consolidation plan).

Points of interest
The city's location offers visitors access to the coastal islands and the Savannah Riverfront, both popular tourist destinations. Tybee Island, formerly known as "Savannah Beach", is the site of the Tybee Island Light Station, the first lighthouse on the southern Atlantic coast. Other picturesque towns adjacent to Savannah include the shrimping village of Thunderbolt and two residential areas that began as summer resort communities for Savannahians: Beaulieu and Vernonburg.

The Savannah International Trade & Convention Center is located on Hutchinson Island, across from downtown Savannah and surrounded by the Savannah River. The Belles Ferry connects the island with the mainland, as does the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge.

The Savannah Civic Center is located on Montgomery Street and is host to over 900 events each year, including the Memorial Health Hockey Classic.

Squares

Savannah's historic district has 24 squares. The squares vary in size and personality, from the formal fountain and monuments of the largest, Johnson, to the playgrounds of the smallest, Crawford. Elbert, Ellis, and Liberty Squares are classified as the "lost squares," destroyed due to development in the 1950s. Elbert and Liberty Squares were paved over to make way for a realignment of US 17, while Ellis Square was demolished to build the City Market parking garage. Separate efforts are under way to revive each of the three lost squares. The city has recently razed the City Market parking garage in order to build a new parking facility underground, with a new park on the street level.

Historic sites
-Riverfront Plaza and Factors' Walk—River Street's restored nineteenth-century cotton warehouses and passageways include shops, bars and restaurants
-City Market—Savannah's restored central market features antiques, souvenirs, small eateries, as well as two large outdoor plazas
-Historic homes—the Pink House, Sorrel Weed House, Juliette Gordon Low birthplace, Green-Meldrim House, Owens-Thomas House, Wormsloe plantation of Noble Jones, Mercer House, former home of Jim Williams, the main subject of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
-Historic houses of worship—Trinity United Methodist Church(circa 1848), Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Christ Church (Anglican), -First African Baptist Church, Independent Presbyterian Church, Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Temple Mickve Israel, St. John's Church (Episcopal)
-Historic cemeteries—Colonial Park Cemetery (an early graveyard dating back to the English colony of Georgia), Laurel Grove Cemetery (with the graves of many Confederate soldiers and African American slaves) and Bonaventure Cemetery (a former plantation and the final resting place for some illustrious Savannahians)
-Historic forts—Fort Jackson (near the historic district) and Fort Pulaski National Monument (17 miles east of Savannah via the Islands Expressway), both important in the American Civil War
-Savannah's Zoo - Oatland Island Wildlife Center, a facility owned and operated by the Board of Education, is a place to see animals that are or were found in this region.
-Savannah State University campus and Hill Hall—The Georgia Historical Commission and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources have recognized both the Savannah State campus and Walter Bernard Hill Hall as a part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program. Hill Hall, which was built in 1901, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Other attractions
-Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens
-Pinkie Masters Bar which has been the site of presidential visits and political aspiration. Pinkie Masters (a local political figure) was a friend of President Jimmy Carter, who made several visits to the bar and the city.