Savannah True History Tours

02/12/2025

292 years ago, James Oglethorpe led 114 charity settlers up Yamacraw Bluff and into history.

In Oglethorpe’s own words: “I stuck upon a healthy situation about ten miles from the sea. The river there forms a half moon, along the South side of which the banks are about 40 foot high and upon a top a flat which they call a bluff. The plain high ground extends into the country five or six miles and along the riverside about a mile. Ships that draw twelve foot water can ride within ten yards of the bank. Upon the riverside in the center of this plain, I have laid out the town.”

Kudos, Jimmy. We’re forever grateful.

Happy birthday to the most beautiful city in America!

Oh, and you too, Georgia. It’s cool you both share a birthday.

02/10/2025

Hey friends, you very kindly nominated us for Connect Savannah's Best of Savannah again this year! We made it in four categories under Arts & City Life: Best Tour Company, Best Walking Tour, Best Tour Guide (Brandon), and Best Tour. Also, our newest guide, Sarah (Hostess Savannah) was nominated for Best Local Influencer and Best Podcast under Media. We'd sure appreciate your daily votes from today through St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks again for all your support over the years! We have a pretty cool announcement later this week that we hope you'll enjoy!

/**/...

02/05/2025

Big weekend of tours ahead!

Dark History Tours Wednesday-Saturday evenings. Join us as we separate fact from fiction.

Savannah History Walk:

Thursday 2/6: 2:30
Friday 2/7: 2:00
Saturday 2/8: 10:00 & 2:00
A rare Sunday tour led by at 10:00 AM! She’ll even give her tips for can’t miss spots on Super Museum Sunday that afternoon.

Oh yea, those bricks on Abercorn by Colonial Park. They have absolutely nothing to do with ghosts. We’ll set that record straight on some of these tours!

01/22/2025

Seven long years since the last Savannah snow day. While the outlying areas got more snow, Downtown saw a lot of sleet. Nevertheless, there’s a good 2-3 inches (unofficially…) on the ground in the Historic District.

So what’s the biggest snow Savannah ever received? Savannah was blanketed in a whopping 3.6 inches on February 8, 1968. Over the last 130 years, Savannah has only seen four days with more than two inches of snow. In the end, this will likely go down in Savannah history as one of her biggest snows EVER!

Enjoy and stay warm!

01/14/2025

Our friends at The Melting Pot - Savannah, GA are fans of true history! When they reached out to learn more about the location of their restaurant, we were all too happy to share one of Savannah’s quirkiest Civil War stories. We can’t wait to try a Cannonball!

As an aside, if you haven’t been by lately, it’s under new ownership. They’ve been offering some excellent deals, and with Restaurant Week quickly approaching, there’s an even better reason to give them a visit!

We're excited to introduce the Savannah Cannonball cocktail which pays homage to Savannah's history.

“When Confederates evacuated Savannah on the night of December 20, 1864, the crew of the CSS Savannah remained on its ironclad in the Savannah River. As Union soldiers arrived in Savannah the next morning, they established an artillery battery near the eastern end of Bay Street. The artillerists fired at the Savannah, and the ship eventually returned the favor. One of the ironclad's shells sailed over the Union battery; its fragments striking the wooden home that once stood where the Melting Pot is today. This was the city's only known home to be struck by cannon fire during the Civil War. That night, the Savannah was abandoned and destroyed. The explosion was heard as far as Hilton Head Island.”

~ As summarized by Brandon Carter of Savannah True History Tours

01/06/2025

In the last week, we provided four-hour private tours for guests in both Savannah and Wilmington with Wilmington True History Tours. Due to our guides’ expertise, we can craft any tour to suit the interests of your group. There’s no better way to truly understand a city than walking it with those who live and breathe its history.

Come experience a True History Tour and see the difference!

01/03/2025

in 1861, 134 men steamed downriver from Savannah to Fort Pulaski. Senator Robert Toombs had written to Georgia Governor Joe Brown that the fort would soon be reinforced by additional US troops. Upon arrival, the Georgians found only two men: An ordnance sergeant and a caretaker. The fort was promptly surrendered to the Georgians, marking what was at the time, the most overt act any state had taken against federal property. Among the Georgians at Pulaski were a few who would soon find wartime fame: Francis Bartow, Alexander Lawton, and Moxley Sorrel.

Tours all weekend, including Savannah History and Dark History!

12/29/2024

Today’s date is a massive anniversary in Savannah history. , December 29, 1778, the British retook Savannah.

In November, British General Henry Clinton began moving his army of Regulars, Hessians, and Loyalists from NY to Georgia. Clinton’s 3,000+ men appeared off Tybee on December 23. They began coming ashore just two miles from the city on December 29.

Continental General Robert Howe drew up his 800’ish men in a V-shaped line just southeast of Savannah. He anchored both his left and right on swampy ground, confident his flanks were safe. Unfortunately for Howe, a local slave approached the British command with an offer to guide troops through the swamp on the American right flank. Howe sent 600 men with the slave who successfully brought the men around the Americans’ right flank. The rest of Howe’s command occupied the American front. Howe was clueless as to the disaster about to develop. Once he heard the firing to his rear flank and saw the British now advancing on his front, he ordered a retreat. The British cut off the path to the Augusta Road, so the Americans panicked further. Many Americans tried to swim across Musgrove Creek, just west of the city. Some made it, many surrendered. Some were even bayoneted before they could surrender. The day was a catastrophe.

The Americans lost nearly 100 men killed and wounded plus another 450 captured. More drowned while swimming across swampy creeks. The British lost less than 30 total. Georgia would be held by the British until 1782.

We’ll discuss Savannah in the Revolution on tonight’s Dark History Tour! Come out and celebrate the end of the rain.

12/26/2024

We have five more tours this week, highlighted by the final Holiday History Tour of the season!

Friday:

2:30: Savannah Orientation Tour
6:30: Holiday History Tour

Saturday:

10:00 AM: Savannah History Walk (Few tickets remaining for this one)
2:30: Colonial Park Cemetery Tour

Sunday:

7:30 PM: Dark History Tour

We hope to see you out there!

12/24/2024

Christmas Eve service times of Downtown churches:

Independent Presbyterian: 5:30 PM followed by caroling on the green
Christ Church: 5:00 and 10:00 PM
Lutheran Church of the Ascension: 5:30 and 9:00 PM
St. John’s, Episcopal: 5:00 and 10:40 PM
St. John’s, Catholic: 5:30 and 10:00 PM
Wesley Monumental UMC: 10:30 AM, 3:30, and 5:30 PM
First Baptist: 7:00 PM
Unitarian Universalist: 7:00 PM
Trinity UMC: 6:00 PM

We were unable to locate info for some, including Downtown’s historic black churches. Please feel free to add your congregation’s info in the comments!

Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you at The Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah tonight!

12/23/2024

It’s that time of year again!

“Jingle Bells” - Savannah’s own? There’s no doubt the song was copyrighted while its writer lived in Savannah. That man, James Pierpont, had recently relocated from Medford, MA. Medford certainly gets credit for the song’s vivid scenery, but was it written in Savannah? To this day, both cities claim credit! As an interesting aside, Pierpont remained in Georgia upon the state’s secession and served in the Confederate cavalry.

Merry Christmas!

12/19/2024

Good afternoon from sunny St. Augustine! Another research trip brings us to the nation’s oldest city, but all the fun is happening in Savannah this week. We have some great tours coming up, including tonight’s Holiday History Tour!

Tonight: Holiday History, 6:30 PM
Tonight: Dark History Tour, 7:00 PM

Saturday 12/21: Savannah History Walk at 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM, Colonial Park Cemetery Tour at 11:00 AM, Dark History at 6:30 PM

Monday 12/23: A rare daytime Dark History Tour at 2:00 PM

By popular demand, we’ve added another Holiday History Tour on Friday, 12/27.

Now back to St. Augustine: Sure seems like a prime spot for a True History Tour…

12/12/2024

Santa turtles: One Savanah’s great Christmas traditions. Want to learn about more (read: A lot more)? Great, because we have two more Holiday History Tours coming up this week!

Our next edition is this Sunday at 10:30 AM. Tickets are available on our website. Can’t wait to see you then!

12/07/2024

On this Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we highly recommend following this USS Arizona account on X/Twitter as it “tweets” the events of December 7, 1941 as they occurred:

12/01/2024

Ever wonder how past Savannahians celebrated the Holiday Season? Join us on this festive walking tour as we traverse the Historic District and explore Savannah’s connection to some of your favorite holiday traditions!

Learn how Savannah became a Christmas gift to one of our Presidents and how Hannukah was celebrated in Georgia’s infancy. You may even be surprised to learn that a number of popular Christmas carols got their start in this lovely city.

This special tour is a great way to get into the holiday spirit, and we’ll even make a special pit stop to gain even more holiday cheer along the way!

This tour is currently scheduled for December 8 and 15 at 10:30 AM, as well as December 19 at 6:30 PM. We may just even add a few more as well. Come enjoy the holiday season with our newest guide, Sarah!

12/01/2024

We have huge news x 2: A new guide AND a new tour! Please welcome Sarah Mathis to the True History Tours team. Sarah is an Air Force Veteran who has built a career on collecting and analyzing information to educate and inform others in a way that’s entertaining and effective. She's a docent at the Harper Fowlkes House and runs the popular Instagram account Hostess Savannah. As of today, she's also the owner and host of Hostess: A Savannah Podcast.

Now that you've met her, here's the first awesome tour she's bringing to the table: Savannah's Holiday History Tour! Over two hours, she'll take you on a deep dive into Savannah's holiday history and traditions. More to come in our next post.

Welcome, Sarah!

11/11/2024

By coincidence, my alma mater, the Virginia Military Institute, celebrates its birthday on Veterans Day. 185 years ago today, Cadet John Strange assumed sentinel duty from the militia that had previously guarded the former Lexington Arsenal.

Its graduates include 266 General or Flag Officers, seven Medal of Honor recipients, and the man who arguably saved the world: George C. Marshall.

Happy Veterans Day to all!