Savannah

Savannah owes much of her character, style, and in fact her very existence to a British general and Member of Parliament named James Edward Oglethorpe. Concerned with the plight of debtors in his home country, Oglethorpe proposed to found a new colony in America, where debtors could pay off their debts by farming for the crown. A charter was granted to a group of trustees to create this new colony, christened Georgia in honor of King George II. While the altruistic aim of debtors' relief was a consideration, a more compelling motivation for the crown was the creation of a buffer against Spain's colonizing efforts in Florida, providing defense for British colonies in the Carolinas.

On February 12, 1733, General Oglethorpe and 120 colonists landed on the Yamacraw Bluff overlooking the Savannah River, on the spot where City Hall now stands. He named the town Savannah after the river, which was likely an Anglo-corruption of Shawnee, a tribe of the region. The settlement would become the thirteenth and final colony in America, and serve as Georgia's capital until 1786.

Over the next 10 years, Oglethorpe would make significant contributions to the new colony. He was responsible for laying out Savannah's design, a checkered system of streets interspersed with public greens. Today, 23 of the original squares survive in the Historic District. Oglethorpe also managed to secure the cooperation of the natives, largely due to the efforts of the Creek leader Tomochichi, thus avoiding the bloodshed that plagued many American colonies.

The agricultural vision of the colony, however, quickly failed, as the sticky climate proved too harsh for the coveted crops of silk and grapes. Through diligent horticultural experiments, it was learned that cotton fared much better, and agricultural efforts rapidly turned in this direction.