The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
18th century
1733 Savannah founded in British Colony of Georgia by James Oglethorpe. Ellis, Johnson, Percival, and St. James Squares laid out per Oglethorpe Plan. First City Market established. 1734 Reynolds Square laid out. Solomon's Lodge (Masonic lodge) founded. Pirates' House Inn established. 1735 – Congregation Mickve Israel formed. 1739 Wormsloe Plantation established. October 5: Creek leader Tomochichi died. He is buried in Percival Square. 1740 – Bethesda Orphanage founded near town. 1742 – Oglethorpe Square laid out. 1750 Colonial Park Cemetery established. Christ Church built. Savannah Female Asylum founded. 1754 Savannah becomes capital of British Province of Georgia. 1755 January 1: Georgia legislature convenes. Independent Presbyterian Church founded. 1762 – Bonaventure Plantation established. – The Christian Camphor Cottage was built. It is believed to be the city's oldest extant structure. 1765 Levi Sheftall Family Cemetery established. Greenwich Plantation established. 1771 – Habersham House completed. 1773 – Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery established (possibly 1769). 1775 January: Provincial Congress held. June: Committee of Safety organized at the liberty pole. 1776 (or before) – The Eppinger House was built. It is believed to be the oldest extant brick structure in the city.Georgia: A Guide to its Towns and Countryside (1940) 1778 December 29: Battle of Savannah; British in power. Georgia state capital relocated from Savannah to Augusta. 1779 Town Hall built. Siege of Savannah. 1782 British occupation ends. Georgia state capital relocated to Savannah from Augusta. 1786 Georgia state capital relocated again from Savannah to Augusta. Chatham Artillery established. 1788 Town becomes part of the U.S. state of Georgia. African Baptist Church and Chatham Academy established. 1789 – Savannah chartered as a city. 1790 John Houstoun becomes mayor. Franklin Square and Washington Square laid out 1791 – Warren Square laid out. 1796 – November 26: Fire. 1799 – City Exchange constructed, replacing one that burned in 1796. Columbia Square and Greene Square laid out.
19th century 1800 – Population: 5,146. 1802 – Savannah Volunteer Guards established. 1804 Seamen's Hospital opens. Bonaventure Plantation destroyed by fire. Lebanon Plantation established. 1809 – Savannah Society Library founded. 1810 – Population: 5,315. 1812 – Hibernian Society organized. 1813 – Oliver Sturges House built. 1815 – Orleans Square and Chippewa Square laid out. 1817 – Savannah Steamboat Company in business. 1818 Telfair Academy built. The Savannah Theatre established. 1819 May: Steamboat Savannah travels to Liverpool, England. May: U.S. President Monroe visits town. William Scarbrough House (residence) built. Owens–Thomas House (residence built). 1820 January: Great Savannah Fire of 1820. Isaiah Davenport House built. 1821 The city's first hotel, City Hotel, is completed.Ease and Elegance, Madeira and Murder: The Social Life of Savannah's City Hotel, Malcolm Bell, Jr. (1992), p. 552 Second iteration of City Market built. 1824 – Savannah Fire Company formed. 1825 – March: Lafayette visits town. 1830 Nathanael Greene Monument in Johnson Square completed. Population: 7,303. 1831 – Savannah–Ogeechee Canal constructed. 1833 – First Baptist Church built. 1834 – Oglethorpe Barracks built (approximate date). 1837 Pulaski Square, Lafayette Square, Madison Square and Troup Square laid out. Central of Georgia Railroad begins operating. 1839 – Georgia Historical Society organized. 1840 Sorrel–Weed House built. Population: 11,214. 1841 – Crawford Square laid out. 1842 – Convent of St. Vincent de Paul founded. 1844 – Savannah Institution for Savings instituted. 1846 – Bonaventure Cemetery established near town. 1847 Chatham Square and Monterey Square laid out. Fort Pulaski built near town. 1848 Customhouse built. Population: 13,573. 1850 Daily Morning News begins publication. 1851 Calhoun Square and Whitefield Square laid out. The Marshall House opens. 1853 Forsyth Place (park) laid out. Catholic Diocese of Savannah and Laurel Grove Cemetery established. St. John's Church consecrated. Green–Meldrim House built. Georgia State Railroad Museum built. 1854 Yellow fever outbreak. Central of Georgia Railway Company Shop Property built. Augusta and Savannah Railroad in operation (approximate date). 1855 – Young Men's Literary Association organized. 1858 – Old Harbor Light erected. 1859 First African Baptist Church rebuilt. The Great Slave Auction at Ten Broeck Race Course, March 2 & 3.Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale (2010), from SouthernSpaces.org. John G. Lawton riverboat explodes, June 9 1860 – Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed built. 1861 March 21: Cornerstone Speech by Alexander H. Stephens. Port blockaded by U.S. government. Green House (residence) built. 1864 – December 22: Savannah taken by Union forces. 1866 – City board of education incorporated. 1867 – Beach Institute established. 1868 – Mercer House (residence) built (approximate date). 1870 – McCarthy's Business College established. 1871 – Abend Zeitung newspaper begins publication. 1873 – First Bryan Baptist Church rebuilt. 1874 – Youth's Historical Society founded. 1875 Civil War Memorial in Forsyth Park dedicated. Colored Tribune newspaper begins publication. Savannah Rifle Association established. 1876 Cathedral of St. John the Baptist dedicated. Third iteration of City Market built. Another yellow fever outbreak (see also J. W. Schull) 1878 – Congregation Mickve Israel synagogue built. 1879 – City boundaries expanded. 1880 Confederate memorial built in Forsyth Park. Population: 30,709. 1882 – Ford Dramatic Association incorporated. 1883 City boundaries expanded. William Washington Gordon Monument in Wright Square completed. 1886 – Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences opens. 1887 Savannah Cotton Exchange building built. Tybee-Savannah railway built. 1888 – William Jasper Monument in Madison Square dedicated. 1890 – Population: 43,189. 1891 – Georgia Industrial College established. 1893 – August: Sea Islands hurricane. 1898 - Fire at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. 1899 Kate Baldwin Free Kindergarten established. Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse built. 1900 Population: 54,244. Great Dane Trailers founded as the Savannah Blowpipe Company
20th century
1901 City boundaries expanded. Hill Hall at Savannah State College built. 1902 Benedictine College founded. Savannah Union Station completed. 1904 – City Exchange demolished. 1906 – Savannah City Hall built. 1908 – Savannah, Augusta and Northern Railway in operation (approximate date). 1909 – December: Savannah axe murders 1910 James Oglethorpe Monument in Chippewa Square dedicated. Population: 65,064. 1912 – Girl Guides of America founded. 1914 – East Henry Street Carnegie Library opens. 1919 Armstrong House completed. April: Savannah Centennial Pageant performed. 1920 – Population: 83,252. 1921 – Lucas Theatre built 1925 – Savannah Economic Development Authority established. 1926 – Municipal Stadium built. 1929 WTOC radio begins broadcasting. Savannah Municipal Airport begins operating. Savannah Technical College established. 1933 – Greenwich Cemetery established. 1935 Armstrong Junior College founded. Union Bag and Paper opens mill. 1938 – Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal built. 1939 – WSAV radio begins broadcasting. 1940 – Coastal Transitional Center opened. 1942 – U.S. Army Chatham Field (airfield) active. 1950 – Little Theatre of Savannah founded. 1951 – Palm Drive-In movie theatre opens. 1953 – Talmadge Memorial Bridge built to Hutchinson Island. 1954 Council–manager form of government adopted. WTOC-TV (television) begins broadcasting. City Market torn down; replaced by Ellis Square parking garage 1955 – Historic Savannah Foundation organized. 1956 WSAV-TV (television) begins broadcasting. Juliette Gordon Low house museum opens. 1960 Savannah Protest Movement commenced Travis Field airport terminal built. Population: 147,537. 1962 – Savannah station built. 1963 – Savannah Union Station demolished. 1967 – Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co. opens Savannah office. 1968 The DeSoto Hotel opens. Abercorn Plaza shopping centre opens for business. 1969 – Oglethorpe Mall opens up for business. 1970 John Rousakis becomes mayor. Population: 118,349. 1974 – Savannah Civic Center opens. 1976 – Abercorn Cinema opens. 1977 – City Records Committee established. 1978 – Savannah College of Art and Design founded. 1979 – September: Hurricane David makes landfall. 1980 Hyatt Regency Savannah opens. 1981 Coastal State Prison built. May 2: The shooting of Danny Hansford occurs at Mercer House, the basis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 1986 – Chatham Area Transit established. 1988 – Savannah Music Festival founded. 1990 Savannah Mall (the city's second shopping mall) in business. Talmadge Memorial Bridge rebuilt. 1991 Vietnam Veterans Memorial built in Emmet Park. Lady & Sons restaurant in business. 1994 Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport terminal built. Bestseller book about Savannah Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil published. 1998 Savannah Arts Academy established. Floyd Adams becomes the first African American to become the Mayor of the City of Savannah. 1999 Georgia Tech Savannah established. City website online (approximate date).
21st century 2000 – Lucas Theatre renovated. 2002 African-American Monument on River Street dedicated. Islamic Center of Savannah established. 2004 – Otis Johnson becomes mayor. 2005 Abercorn Walk shopping center in business. Savannah-Chatham Metro Police established. 2009 – The Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra is established. 2010 – Population: 136,286. 2012 Edna Jackson becomes mayor. Savannah Law School established. 2016 Eddie Deloach becomes mayor, first Republican since 1996. All of Savannah and Chatham county east of I95 was evacuated ahead of Hurricane Matthew. 2017 – All of Savannah and Chatham County east of I95 evacuated due to the impact of Hurricane Irma. 2018 Savannah Law School closed. City and county police merger ends, separating the two agencies. Roy Minter sworn in as new police chief of Savannah Police Department. 2020 – Van R. Johnson becomes the 67th mayor. 2022 – Population: 147,780 (+11,494 since 2010)
See also History of Savannah, Georgia List of mayors of Savannah, Georgia Timelines of other cities in Georgia: Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon
References
Bibliography
Published in 18th–19th century
1881
1884 1896
Published in 20th century 1900s–1950s
1950s–1990s Alexander A. Lawrence, A Present for Mr. Lincoln: The Story of Savannah from Secession to Sherman (Macon, Ga.: Ardivan Press, 1961).
Preston Russell and Barbara Hines, Savannah: A History of Her People since 1733 (Savannah, Ga.: Frederic C. Beil, 1992).
Whittington B. Johnson, Black Savannah, 1788-1864 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1996). Derek Smith, Civil War Savannah (Savannah, Ga.: Frederic C. Beil, 1997). Patrick Allen, ed., Literary Savannah (Athens, Ga.: Hill Street Press, 1998).
Published in 21st century Mills B. Lane, Savannah Revisited: History and Architecture, 5th ed. (Savannah, Ga.: Beehive Press, 2001).
Walter J. Fraser Jr., Savannah in the Old South (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003).
Jacqueline Jones, Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War (New York: Knopf, 2008).
External links
University of Texas, Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection. Maps of Savannah, various dates Items related to Savannah, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)