Founded by General James Oglethorpe in 1733, Savannah was the first planned city in America, Georgia's first city, original capital and, then as now, a vital port for trade. Savannah was the home of Georgia's first banking center and Georgia's first railroad which expanded the importation of goods, especially cotton.

After surviving a consuming fire and a yellow fever epidemic in 1820, Savannah entered a period of great prosperity, which lasted until the Civil War. Union General Sherman was so enamored with Savannah that he presented it to President Lincoln as a Christmas present in 1864. Thus, Savannah was spared from the devastation that was the fate of the South.

Today, Oglethorpe’s vision of prosperity and beauty lives in the Historic District – a 2.5-mile area filled with shops, cafes, green squares, and architecture representative of most of our Nation's 18th and 19th century styles.