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A DECADE OF CITY ANNIVERSARIES, 2004-2014
The City of Savannah is in the middle of a "decade of anniversaries" which highlight the growth and improvement of the municipal government and the local community. These anniversaries have been and will be celebrated in a variety of ways, including special events and historical research. Look for upcoming additions to the Research Library and Municipal Archives' website as anniversaries are commemorated.
February 1, 2004
50th Anniversary Adoption of Council-Manager Form of Government
In December 1953, the Georgia State Legislature passed a new charter for the City of Savannah which provided for a council-manager form of government composed of City Council, a mayor and six aldermen [Savannah is now represented by eight aldermen], and a city manager to serve as the government's chief executive officer in charge of the daily operations of the City's departments. On February 19, 1954, City Council approved a resolution hiring Frank A. Jacocks as the City's first city manager. The City of Savannah is now under its fifth city manager, Michael Brown.
Francis A. "Frank" Jacocks
City Manager
1 March 1954 to 31 July 1959 | 
John Oliver Hall
City Manager
28 September 1959 to 14 August 1962 | 
Arthur A. "Don" Mendonsa
City Manager
13 June 1962 to 1 May 1967
3 September 1971 to 31 December 1994 | 
Picot B. Floyd
City Manager
1 May 1967 to 31 May 1971 |
January 1, 2006
Savannah City Hall Centennial, 1906-2006
| The City of Savannah has occupied four seats of municipal government since its incorporation in December 1789. The first, from 1790 through 1812, was the abandoned filature on Reynolds Square, on the northeast corner of Abercorn and E. St. Julian Streets. The filature was a factory where silkworm cocoons were stored and reeled into silk. It burned down in the fire of 1839. The second, from 1812 through 1904, was the City Exchange, which stood on the same site as the present City Hall, centered on the north side of Bay Street at the foot of Bull Street. The City Exchange was constructed in 1799 by a stock company and was initially occupied by commercial tenants. The City initially held 25 of the 200 shares and gradually purchased all shares for complete ownership of the building in 1812, at which time City offices were moved into it. The City Exchange continued to be occupied jointly by municipal, commercial, and other public offices until 1896, when for the first time, municipal government comprised its total occupancy. The last City Council meeting was held in the City Exchange on March 16, 1904, after which its demolition began. During the interim period, March 1904 through December 1905, while demolition was completed and City Hall was under construction, city offices were housed in the Police Barracks on Oglethorpe Avenue. City Hall opened to the public with gala receptions attended by 10,000 guests on January 2, 1906. Click here for "A Building for a Century to Come," a special City Hall Centennial series of articles, timelines and exhibits on City Hall's construction and first 100 years. |
February 4, 2007
100th Anniversary of Daffin Park
In 1907, the City of Savannah Park and Tree Commission contracted landscape architect John Nolen to design Daffin Park. Located on the south side of Victory Drive, between Waters Avenue and Bee Road, the 78-acre park features a 5-acre Herty pine forest, a living memorial to chemist Charles Herty, and Grayson Stadium. Daffin Park is named for Philip Dickinson "P. D." Daffin who served as chairman of the Park and Tree Commission from 1898 until his death in 1929 (for a history of the Park and Tree Commission click here). Daffin Park's history includes several notable firsts, including: it was the first major park planned by the Park and Tree Commission; it was Savannah's first major park designed by a landscape architect; it was the first park in Savannah to address multiple uses, including both passive and active; in 1953, Grayson Stadium was the first place in baseball's South Atlantic League where the "color barrier" was broken; and the Ashley Dearing barrier-free playground was the first of its kind in Savannah and only the second in the United States when it was built in 1984. Daffin Park was selected as the site for the State of Georgia's 2007 Arbor Day Ceremony held on February 16, 2007.
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P. D. Daffin, circa 1900
Chairman Park and Tree Commission
1898-1929 |
Postcard of Daffin Park Lake, no date |
July 11, 2007
100th Anniversary of City of Savannah's Acquisition of Bonaventure Cemetery
Bonaventure Cemetery, circa 1902.
Taken from Artwork of Savannah and Augusta, Georgia,
by Charles Edgeworth Jones (Chicago: Gavure Illustrations Co., 1902),
Part 2, Plate 3. | Bonaventure Cemetery was originally developed in the late 1840s by Peter Wiltberger and the Evergreen Cemetery Company of Bonaventure on Bonaventure Plantation, the former home of the Mullryne and Tattnall families. In 1907, the City of Savannah purchased Bonaventure as a municipal cemetery. For more information on the history of the cemetery, visiting the cemetery, and the City of Savannah Cemeteries Department which serves as the caretaker of Bonaventure Cemetery, click here.
For more information on the 2007 celebration in honor of Bonaventure Cemetery's centennial anniversary click here. |
February 12, 2008
275th Anniversary Founding of Savannah & Colony of Georgia
On February 12, 1733, General James Edward Oglethorpe landed with 114 colonists on the Yamacraw Bluff and established the first English settlement in the new Colony of Georgia, Savannah.
"A View of Savannah as it Stood the 29th of March 1734,"
drawn by Peter Gordon.
Call # G3924.S3A3 1734.G6.1876 TIL; Digital ID #g3924s pm001305
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3924s.pm001305
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division,
Washington, D.C.
Used with permission. |
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December 23, 2014
225th Anniversary Chartering of City of Savannah Government
The official coat of arms of the City of Savannah includes the symbols of the Sword of Truth," the Scales of Justice, and the Omniscient Eye. | On December 23, 1789, Savannah's municipal government was created when Governor Edward Telfair signed the charter incorporating the City of Savannah. On March 1, 1790, the first aldermen were elected by the voters of Savannah. On March 8, 1790, from their own body, the aldermen elected John Houstoun as Savannah's first mayor. |
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