Savannah's Maritime Cultural Landscape

Cockspur Island Lighthouse

This lighthouse is part of Ft. Pulaski National Monument. A daymarker was first constructed here in 1837. Stuck by hurricanes and other disasters, this lighthouse has been rebuilt numerous times but survived the Civil War.

Old Harbor Light

The Old Harbor Light in Emmet Park of downtown Savannah, Georgia was erected by the federal government in 1858 as an aid to navigation on the Savannah River. It was proposed by J.F. Gilmer, Captain of Engineers, in October 1855. He sent the Lighthouse Board a proposition recommending “a harbor beacon on ‘the bay,’ in the city of Savannah, as an aid to vessels approaching the city at night.” The light shone from a focal plane of 77 feet as an aid to ships entering Savannah’s harbor. In conjunction with Fig Island Lighthouse, the Bay served as a range light to guide incoming vessels past six Revolutionary War ships intentionally scuttled by the British in 1779 to keep French ships out of the harbor. The Lighthouse Board noted the following for The Bay in 1869: “This beacon-light being no longer a range, has been discontinued.” After conservation, the restored Old Harbor Light was relit in Emmet Park January 11, 2001.

Written by: Harlie Bagley

Fort McCallister

This fort holds many Confederate Earthworks that were under attack from Union during the Civil War. It fell after Sherman's famous "March to the Sea." It is now the location of a museum, giving information about the history of the fort as well as hosting living history presentations.

Tybee Gun Battery

This Gun battery was created as a part of Fort Screven on Tybee Island in Savannah, Georgia. It is located across from the Tybee Lighthouse, and was built during the Spanish American War. Battery Brumby was one of the first gun batteries created for the fort in 1898. The gun battery and the fort played a major role in the coastal defense of Georgia throughout the Spanish American War and the both the World Wars. Eventually the fort and battery were transferred over as private property in the 1950's and is now currently used as a museum dedicated to the history of Tybee Island.

Written by: Christopher Howell

Old Fort Jackson

Old Fort Jackson is a second system fort just outside of Savannah. Construction began in 1808 and was far enough along to provide coastal defense during the War of 1812. Fully constructed by the beginning of the Civil War, it became the main line of naval defense for the Confederacy along the Savannah River after Fort Pulaski was captured by Union troops. The fort remained in the military’s possession until 1905 when it was officially decommissioned. The City of Savannah purchased the fort in 1920, and today it is owned by the state and operated by the Coastal Heritage Society.

Written by: William White

Fort Pulaski

Part of the National Park Service system, Fort Pulaski is located in the mouth of the Savannah River. Construction of the fort began in 1829 and lasted 18 years before it was fully operational.

Young's Marina

Young’s Marina began as Young’s Fish Camp in 1906 on Wilmington Island. The marina has been in operation for 113 years and is the first and oldest black owned marina in Georgia. The marina was rebuilt in 2011, providing advanced services to the fishing and boating community on Wilmington Island. Although the marina has been in the same location since it opened, not much of the original building and landscape can be seen. The business is focused around boating, fishing, but other services are offered. The age and diverse ownership make this marina an important contribution to the maritime landscape of Savannah.

Written by: Abriel Pleasant

Isle of Hope Marina

The Isle of Hope Marina got its unofficial start in 1905 with the Barbee Pavilion. Alexander M. Barbee, a resident of the Bluff, rebuilt the establishment after a fire destroyed the first construction a few years prior. The Pavilion was a dance hall, theatre, restaurant, and boat rental in one. In 1935, Joe Hallman, another Bluff resident, moved his backyard business of building boats to an establishment near the Pavilion where he would continue his labor building and repairing boats. He attached a small marine railway and opened his own fish camp. Just a few years later in 1939, Bill Brady, bought Hallman’s business and created Brady’s Boat Works in its place. The marina continued to grow and brought more shipbuilders from the surrounding area. Every night and morning, the boats’ kerosene lamps would be lit and then extinguished in order to prevent collisions with boats passing through the river.

In the 1980's, the Bluff was in danger of being bought by real estate company who had plans to completely commercialize the area. Fortunately, it was instead purchased by a man who transformed Brady’s Boat Works into what is now the modern Isle of Hope Marina. The homes on the Bluff were purchased by the Isle of Hope Historical Association and immediately resold to residents. The marina has grown to include many upgraded facilities including floating docks, covered boat wet storage sheds, and areas for people to socialize. The marina and its patrons may look quite different than it did over a century ago, but the same jolly, water loving spirit which birthed the marina continues to live on through the generations that gather there.

Written by: Erica Buskey

Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

The Scarbrough house was built by William Scarbrough, a wealthy shipping merchant, in 1819. Scarbrough became a primary investor in the Steamship Savannah (S.S. Savannah) which was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. In 1996, the Scarbrough House was renovated into the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum. The museum features models of ships that graced the Savannah area, maritime paintings, and artifacts that show the city’s maritime history. Ship models such as the SS Savannah, HMS Anne, the ship that carried James Oglethorpe and the first settlers of Georgia in 1732, The Wanderer, the last documented ship to bring a cargo of slaves from Africa to the United States in 1858, and RMS Titanic.

Written by: Jessica Ayres

Savannah Ogeechee Canal

Chartered by the city in 1824, the canal was built between 1826 and 1830 by African and Irish laborers. The canal spans 16.5 miles, beginning with the first tidal lock at the Savannah river and ending with the sixth tidal lock at the Ogeechee river. During the nineteenth century this waterway passed through the heart of industrial Savannah transporting local crops and goods, such as lumber, cotton, rice, peaches, bricks, and naval stores. The canal remained in operation for much of the nineteenth century until the early 1890s. The development of the Central of Georgia Railway created a quicker and more efficient means of transportation of goods, thus forcing canal use to decline.

Today, the canal is utilized as a recreational area. By utilizing the historic tow path along the canal waterway, a beautiful scenic route is provided for visitors to absorb the significance of this site. The most well-preserved section of the canal is tidal lock five, where the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center is located. Nearly half a mile down the tow path is tidal lock six, the section that connects to the Ogeechee river.

Written by: Raymond Phipps

Wormsloe- Confederate Earthworks

Fort Wimberly was a Confederate fortification built by soldiers and slaves. It sits on the Wormsloe Historic site today overlooking the river below it. It was meant to be one of several fortifications that protected the southern approach of Savannah. The fortification itself is a series of earthen banks situated at the tip of the Wormsloe State Historic Site. The mounds are significantly higher than the surround area, standing greater than 6-feet tall. The mounds were built entirely by soldiers and slaves moving earth to form the banks. Fort Wimberly is important to the maritime culture of Savannah as it is a single part of the larger coastal fortification meant to defend Savannah during the Civil War. Fort Pulaski and Old Fort Jackson are some of the better-known fortifications that defended Savannah. The sites at Wormsloe and Skidaway are much lesser known than the brick fortresses, but still hold significance in their construction and location to the south of Savannah.

Written by: Elijah Harris

Colonial Park Cemetery

Established in 1750, Colonial Park Cemetery stood as the City of Savannah’s cemetery for well over a century. Within the gated boundaries of this cemetery, it is estimated to contain over nine thousand graves. Among these graves are several individuals that sculpted the maritime cultural landscape of Savannah.

William Scarbrough, born in 1776, was a successful businessman throughout Georgia, New York, and England. He was a key figure in the development of the Savannah Steam Ship Company and a financer of the famous S.S. Savannah; a 98-foot vessel that became the first steam ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819. Scarbrough died in New York on June 11th 1858 and his remains were brought to Savannah to be laid to rest in Colonial Park Cemetery.

Another prominent individual who is interred at Colonial Park Cemetery is Captain Denis Nicolas Cottineau. Born in France in 1745, Captain Cottineau commanded the Pallas, one of the first ships of the thirteen colonies during the American Revolution. During a naval engagement in 1779, Captain Cottineau skillfully out maneuvered the British H.M.S Countess of Scarborough and forced her to surrender. In 1808, the French Captain succumbed to a lingering illness and was laid to rest in Colonial Park Cemetery. 

Written by: Raymond Phipps

Factor's Walk

This historic road runs between the warehouses that line River Street and the Savannah bluff, with overhung entrances to the buildings on one side and a flat stone wall on the other. Numerous narrow bridges arc over it to provide access to the upper floors of the buildings. While today it is surrounded by greenery, generally quiet and picturesque, its origins are purely pragmatic, as it existed to facilitate the movement of goods, primarily cotton, from the warehouses, which operated from the mid-18th century until the 1950's. In the 19th century they were inhabited by cotton “factors,” who would arrange sales, thus giving the area its name.

Much of the road’s surface has been replaced with modern materials, large sections of it still feature the historic mix of uneven, mismatched cobblestones, dating to 1834, which consist of reused ballast stones dumped from ships after taking on cargo, unintentionally creating a tactile representation of the city’s maritime heritage.

Written by: Robert Carpenter

Rice Field Trunk Replica

Replica of a rice trunk that would have let water in and out of the rice fields. Located on the driving trail of the Savannah Wildlife Refuge.

Rice Field Trunk #2

The large rice field trunks allowed plantations to fill and empty the rice fields with tidewater. It normally took two strong slaves from the plantation to operate the heavy gate. Once opened, water would flow from a reservoir or canal set up to collect water from when the tides were high and too hold the water when tides were low. These gates and reservoirs were built with the tides in consideration and show an obvious knowledge of the use of water for more than just travel and trade.

Diversion Canal

Built in 1977 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this nine-mile canal borders the east side of the Refuge. Originally, it was built to help the flow of salt-water past the fresh-water refuge due to dredging on the Savannah River. It now provides water to private plantations in the area and allows the refuge to control the tidal flow when necessary. The canal only exists due to its proximity to the Savannah River and continues to bring balance to the refuge today.

Waving Girl Statue

Florence Martus was born on Cockspur Island in 1868 to a Union ordnance sergeant stationed at Fort Pulaski. After the death of her father, Florence and her mother moved upriver to Elba Island River Beacon Light where her brother George was Lighthouse keeper. It was there at Elba Island that Florence began to wave at all the passing ships. From 1887 to 1931 she greeted every ship that entered or left Savannah's port with a towel or handkerchief by day and a lantern by night. The ships would blast their horns in response and the sailors called her "the waving girl.”

Florence Martus died in 1943. The Liberty ship SS Florence Martus was named in her honor September 23,1943 following her death. In 1966-1968 the Altrusa Club formed a Waving Girl Memorial Fund and commissioned Austrian-American sculptor Felix de Weldon to design the statue. The nine-foot bronze statue was cast in Rome, Italy and then shipped to the United States in 1971, and it was officially open to the public on February 5, 1971. It was placed in Morrell Park on East River street in Savannah, Georgia where it stands to this day.

Written by: Harmony Lyon

Anchor Monument

The Anchor Monument at River Street, sponsored by the Women’s Propeller Club of Savannah and completed in 1976, stands in honor of all lost American merchant sailors. The monument is a metal anchor appropriately positioned near the Savannah River that serves as a reminder of Savannah’s long history as an important Southern economic port. In the pursuit of maritime trade, sailors risked their lives and well-being to bring goods in and out of Savannah. This dangerous economic activity shaped the development of Savannah and the surrounding area, and this monument honors the sailors who lost their lives building Savannah’s maritime culture.

Written by: Brian Lee

Thunderbolt Anchor

The Thunderbolt anchor, located at the Thunderbolt Museum, was likely forged in England more than 200 years ago. Based on its dimensions and shape, it appears to be an Admiralty longshank bower anchor, and would likely have been lost by either a British naval or merchant ship that plied the waters around Savannah. The anchor’s missing stock would have been made of wood, suggesting that the anchor was manufactured between the mid- 1700s and mid- 1800s, when the British switched to iron stocks.

Charles DeShocka, a Thunderbolt shrimper and fisherman, found the anchor while fishing off Tybee. It was stored at his dock on the Wilmington River before being moved in the early 1960’s to the Victory Drive median at the foot of the old Thunderbolt Bridge, where it was a local landmark for a quarter of a century.

Written by: Kris Rice

Anchor #1 at Old Harbor Light

This 19th century anchor rests at the foot of the Old Harbor Light.

Admiralty Anchor at Russo's Seafood

This anchor is located outside of Russo’s seafood. Skinny in appearance, it looks to be a 19th century admiralty “fisherman” anchor, one of the most common anchor types. The admiralty anchor’s design proved efficient and did not go through many changes over the centuries it was used. The only large change in design was the anchor being made of iron instead of wood once iron casting became popular. Though this anchor cannot be named to a specific ship, it would have been on a mid-sized fishing vessel given the size.

Written by: Caitlin Pittman