"RTE is hoping to strike gold in Georgia" read a recent Irish Times headline referring to the successful US television series Savannah, which is expected to be the hit of RTE's autumn schedule.
Savannah is known not only as one of the most beautiful cities in the south but has also been referred to on occasions as "the wickedest city in the world".
It's the scene of movies, novels and non fiction works, more recently John Brendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, where a wealthy Savannahian is alleged to have murdered his 21 year old male lover.
The Mercer Wilder residences on Monterey Square, famous for its cast iron window pediments and balconies, features in John Brendt's work as the house where the murder took place. Monterey Square was named after a Mexican war battle in which the local Irish Jasper Greens participated.
Cotton Gin
Savannah will also be remembered because of its cotton gin invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney which was to revolutionise the cotton industry, and make the city's Cotton Exchange the one that set world prices. Or perhaps it might be recalled as the place from where the first steamship to cross the Atlantic The Savannah sailed to Liverpool in 1819.
Others might see it as the foundation city where Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the United States of America from her Lafayette Square mansion. Its architect was William Jay from Bath, the designer of many of Savannah's most beautiful homes. With its walls, of stuccoed brick and magnificent cast iron balconies, the house is visited by hundreds of tourists every year.
Music lovers would, of course, remember Savannah from Johnny Mercer, song writer of Moon River, Autumn Leaves and many others. Mercer, born and reared in Savannah, never lost touch with his home town. Savannah, claimed Mercer, had been "a sweet, indolent background for a boy to grow up in". After he died the city renamed the river beside his home Moon River, to mark she Academy Award won by the Henry Mancini Johnny Mercer song.
"In December 1864 on his march to the sea through Confederacy country during the Civil War, Gen Sherman and his army, burned, looted and, destroyed everything in their path. He was met on the outskirts of the city by the farsighted Mayor of Savannah who asked him not to bum it down. Sherman, having acceded to this, wired President Lincoln on December 22nd, 1864, that he was presenting the city of Savannah to him as a birthday present.
World Famous Design
Savannah was founded by James Ogelthorpe in 1733, it is said that when he arrived with the first group of settlers from England, he already had a vision of the settlement. He laid out the streets, lots and public squares neatly and precisely, making its design world famous.
Today it stands as a monument to a time when cotton was king, fortunes were made, beautiful homes built and prosperity flourished, in each of its 22 squares huge magnolia trees shed their creamy petalled flowers and Spanish moss drips from oaks like party streamers. The Savannah river flows through an avenue of mulberry trees which adorn its banks, a reminder of their possible use as food for the silkworms the settler hoped to exploit.
The beauty of Savannah's stately home might not have been preserved were it not For sonic Farsighted women, who being disillusioned by so many old buildings Falling into disrepair, formed the Historic Savannah Foundation in the 1950s. Without their timely interjection many fine buildings would have fallen victim to modern structures and parking lots. Part of their charter was to "acquire, hold, improve, preserve, develop and restore sites, buildings, residences, and the squares" which are so much a part of the original plan of Savannah. And this they did.
Today, the city is testimony to their efforts and that of other committed Savannahians, who shared a common dream to preserve the historical heritage of their city.
National Landmark
In 1966 the National Park Service designated a 2 1/2 square mile area as a registered national landmark. This area, is the downtown historic district of Savannah, attracting preservationists and visitors alike by the thousands every year.
Savannah has been, called a city of squares and rightly so. The Savannahians have resisted all attempts to run traffic through their squares, which are really small parks. Cars travel on the perimeters so everything flows at a leisurely pace allowing the squares to remain oases of tranquillity, where people eat lunch or gaze at the many monuments in the squares to commemorate Savannah's proud history.
Savannah's resistance to change was exemplified when in the 1950s Prudential insurance wanted to locate its regional headquarters in Savannah, a move that would have created thousands of jobs. Savannahians said "No, it's too big". What city would turn down the chance to house the Prudential building which located in Jacksonville, Florida instead? Savannah did. Its resistance to change is legendary and its charm is in its commitment to historic preservation. And Savannah, by the way, holds the third largest St Patrick's Day Parade in the US.