Skip to main content

GreaterUpperValley.com

Highlights & Historical Facts for The Charming City Of Savannah [Web Extra]

Mar 09, 2016 02:52PM ● By Ryan Frisch
Savannah, Georgia has a long and historic history perfect to explore after a long New England winter. Checkout what you're missing in the gallery above and facts below in this web extra.
 

Savannah Savvy

1794, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in Savannah, revolutionizing the cotton industry by making seed removal much more efficient.

Built in 1819, the Owens-Thomas House in Savannah was the first home in the United States to have running water. www.telfair.org/visit/owens-thomas/

The Scarborough House at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum was built in 1819 for the owner of the Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. www.shipsofthesea.org

The Colonial Cemetery was the final resting ground for a number of colonial and Revolutionary War heroes including Major General Nathaniel Greene, although his remains were moved in 1901 to his monument in Johnson Square.

Johnson Square was the first and largest of the 24 squares in Savannah’s historic district.

Savannah’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was founded by the French in the late 18th century. It became a cathedral in 1850 and today is a religious center for 90 counties in Southern Georgia.

In 1912, Savannah native Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of America. Her birthplace, the Wayne-Gordon house, is in the heart of historic Old Savannah and open to the public. www.juliettegordonlowbirthplace.org/

The Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana), or evergreen oak, is Georgia’s state tree and a common and striking tree throughout Savannah. Because it never drops all its leaves at the same time, it looks the same in January and July.

The Spanish moss that drapes gracefully from many of the trees in Savannah is not a parasitic plant and does not damage its host trees. It merely uses the tree for support.

Tybee Island Light Station is the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia.

Writer Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah in 1925 and spent her childhood there until 1938.

Savannah is a cocktail-friendly city. Most watering holes have plastic cups by the door so you can bring your drink with you onto the city’s streets.

Singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer, a native of Savannah, wrote more than 1,100 songs and won four Academy Awards during a career that spanned the 1930s to the 1970s. The Mercer-Williams House, the site of the shooting in the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was built by his great-grandfather.

Over 100 movies and TV shows have used Savannah as a filming location including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Cape Fear, The Last Song, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Glory, Something to Talk About, Roots (mini-series), and Forrest Gump.

More than a million people come to Savannah each year for St. Patrick’s Day. The city’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in 1824. It is one of the largest parades in the country. For a week each March, the fountain in Forsyth Park spouts green water in honor of the occasion.

 


For More Info

Old Savannah Tours, www.oldsavannahtours.com

Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce: www.VisitSavannah.com

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to Image's free newsletter to catch every headline