Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, Savannah is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was a strategic port city during the American Revolution and the American Civil War. Today, it remains an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport, with nearly 5 million 20-foot container units being moved every year.

The Girl Scouts began on March 12, 1912, when Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low organized the first Girl Guide troop meeting of 18 girls in Savannah. The organization, which describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls," has since grown to include more than 3.7 million members.

When James Oglethorpe and settlers from the ship Anne landed at Yamacraw Bluff on February 12, 1733, they were greeted by the Yamacraw, a tribe formed in the late 1720s by leader Tomochichi from some bands of Yamasee and Lower Creek people who had disagreed with the severing of friendship with the British during the Yamasee War of 1715. Oglethorpe, intent on founding a colony at the mouth of the Savannah River because of its strategic location, negotiated with Tomochichi, and the Yamacraw agreed to move their village upriver.

The original charter granted to the Georgia Trustees in 1732 specifically denied Catholics the right to worship in the Georgia colony. Historically, the Spanish were Roman Catholic and Georgia's founders feared that Catholic settlers might be sympathetic to the Spanish if conflict erupted between the two world powers. Because of the ban, Catholicism did not take root in Georgia until after the American Revolution.

The picture of antebellum hospitality, Savannah has been nicknamed the "Hostess City of the South" for many years, and the phrase is still used by the city government. An earlier nickname was "the Forest City", in reference to the large population of live oak trees. These trees were especially valuable in shipbuilding during the 19th century.

Silk and indigo were both important for Savannah's early economy, but Georgia's mild climate offered perfect conditions for growing cotton, and it became the dominant commodity after the American Revolution. Its production under the plantation system and shipment through the Port of Savannah helped the city's European immigrants to achieve wealth and prosperity.

Savannah was one of the Confederacy's most populous cities and the prime objective of General William T. Sherman's famous March to the Sea. Early on December 21, 1864, local authorities negotiated a peaceful surrender to save Savannah from destruction, and Union troops marched into the city at dawn.

Because of its location in the arc of the Atlantic coastline, Savannah has a lower risk of hurricanes than some other coastal cities. During the 20th century, it was hit only once (by Hurricane David in 1979), but historical records show that the city was hit more frequently during the second half of the 19th century. The most prominent of these storms was the 1893 Sea Islands hurricane, which killed at least 2,000 people.

Flannery O'Connor's childhood home is now a museum dedicated to the work and life of the acclaimed fiction writer, who was born in Savannah. At the age of six, she became a local celebrity after training a chicken to walk backward. She would later recall: "When I was six I had a chicken that walked backward and was in the Pathé News. I was in it too with the chicken. I was just there to assist the chicken but it was the high point in my life. Everything since has been an anticlimax."

For years, Savannah was the home of Union Camp, which housed the world's largest paper mill. The plant is now owned by International Paper and remains one of the city's largest employers.