Savannah: The City of Innovations

Steamship Savannah

​Savannah can sometimes be referred to as Slowvannah but in fact we have been the leader in the various waves of economic and engineering advancement. Twice Savannah has been the home of inventions or innovations that greatly influenced the South’s economy. The first took place on Mulberry Grove. This was the plantation of Revolutionary War hero Gen. Nathaniel Greene. Because Greene was responsible for the retreat from the south of the British army after the War he was offered land from the Carolinas and Georgia in appreciation of his leadership. He accepted the land outside of Savannah and made his home there. Unfortunately the Southern heat was too harsh on the Rhode Island man and he died in his first year living at Mulberry Grove. His wife, the socialite Catherine Greene who was a favorite dance partner of George Washington, continued to run the plantation. One of her never-ending guests was Eli Whitney.  While there the Yale graduate was challenged to create a better way to remove the seed from upland cotton. This was a source of frustration for the farmers because it was too labor intensive to make a good profit from cotton. He met this challenge in his cotton gin. The cotton gin would make cotton king in the South and slavery grow as the cotton plantations prospered. It was the game-changer in the Southern economy. Whitney would go on to make his fortune through his emphasis on interchangeable parts in the making of muskets and milling machines but oddly enough because of challenges to or “borrowings” of his patent, he never made much money from his most famous and important work: the cotton gin.
        Since we are on the subject of cotton another unique innovation can be found in what was once referred to as King Cotton’s Palace or the Wall Street of the South: the Cotton Exchange Building found on Bay Street (pictured partly in the photo on the bottom). The Cotton Exchange Building was completed in 1887 and would become home to the cotton exchange of the largest seaport of cotton in the United States. The architect, William Gibbons Preston, was presented with quite the challenge by the state legislature which required of the building that it "shall not interfere with the full and complete and uninterrupted use of the public of said slip." He basically had to build his masterpiece in the air because the builders only had air rights above a public slip; the public owned the land under the building.  Furthermore the city of Savannah said the land under the building had to be wide enough for a wagon and its draft horses to pass through. His design was chosen out of eleven architects and is one of the few structures in the world erected over an existing street.  So next time you find yourself on River Street behind the Cotton Exchange pause for a second to look at this unique nineteenth century architectural engineering feat.
        Speaking of the nineteenth century do you know what is significant about May 22nd ?  Oh you landlubbers May 22nd is National Maritime Day. That is the day on which the SS Savannah set sail from the city on its way to Europe. It would become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. William Scarborough of the Scarborough House and now Ships of the Sea fame, was the financer. The ship launched from Savannah stopping first in Charleston before it went on its European tour. James Monroe came to Savannah and took a cursory sail on the ship before its departure. It was called a steam coffin by sailors reluctant to sail on it because they did not like the idea of a fire on a wooden boat. When it finally made its way to Europe it was stopped by two European ships to assist it because the smoke coming from the ship made them believe it was on fire. It would be another thirty years before an American steamship would again cross the Atlantic Ocean. Not only is National Maritime Day celebrated on the steam ship’s original launch day but there is a monument (pictured at the top) on River Street here in Savannah in its honor. The first nuclear-powered merchant ship NS Savannah was also named in honor of its illustrious predecessor.
       While we are on the subject of innovative transportation in the present day Gulfstream Aeorospace, a subsidairy of General Dynamics headquartered in Savannah where it moved in 1967, has business jets that seem as though they are setting new records monthly. A few records follow: The Gulfstream GII was the first business jet to cross the Atlantic Ocean nonstop. The Gulfstream G450 became first business jet to cross Atlantic Ocean using biofuels. The Gulfstream G650 set the world record for westbound, around-the-world flight in 41 hours, 7 minutes. Gulfstream was the first private aircraft manufacturer to offer synthetic vision and also was the first to develop and incorporate computer-based, in-flight maintenance review for aircraft. Gulfstream is one of the leading industries in Georgia and has invested huge amounts of money in the Savannah non-profit world.
      Gulfstream has also been one of the chief sponsors of a Savannah organization The Ocean Exchange which pays huge prizes for inventions. The Ocean Exchange was founded in 2010. Gulfstream initiated its Navigator Award in 2011 with Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Orcelle award, joining in 2012, with their reward prizes of $100,000 a piece for the inventor\s who according to the announcement is "Translating sustainability into value" and the Ocean Exchange review panel is seeking Solutions Inspiring Action; scalable, sustainable and global innovations that are generating economic growth and increasing productivity while reducing waste and the use of nature’s resources. This year, the awards process focuses on renewable energy, zero emissions and new technologies that can support sustainable solutions and give efficiencies in logistics and supply chains – on land and on the ocean. Each applicant is asked to submit a written statement that describes how their solution contributes directly or indirectly to resilient oceans.
This is a yearly competition of The Ocean Exchange. The innovations that have already come out of this annual contest are impressive. As if that was not enough, The BIG Pitch, a yearly collegiate innovation competition, was initiated in 2015, in partnership with Georgia Southern University. Eight finalists are invited to present at an Ocean Exchange meeting in front of 150 delegates from business, NGOs, academia, and government. Delegates vote who receives one $10,000 cash award.
            Yet the person who best represents the innovative and influential nature of Savannah is Charles Herty. Herty was an internationally recognized chemist who revolutionized the southern forestry to the extent that he was called the George Washington Carver of pine trees. But before we explore his “Carverness” we would be remiss if we did not mention the fact that he organized, as a professor at the University of Georgia, their first football team. Now that I have the Bulldawg nation’s attention, let me continue. When he worked for the US Bureau of Forestry he revived the dying turpentine industry by inventing an inexpensive cup-and-gutter system of gum collection. This system helped create better quantities and better-quality turpentine. It also extended the productive life of the trees so that they could mature and could be used as saw timber. This not only saved the turpentine industry but it helped the Southern economy. Herty’s greatest contribution was in the paper and pulp industry. He was largely responsible for studies and leadership that would lead to pine trees that proliferated the south to replace the northern spruce trees to make newsprint. Herty did not live to see the completion of this work, as he died on July 27, 1938. The Southland Paper Mills, Inc. was organized that same year and the mill site was dedicated to Herty on May 27, 1939, and the first commercial newsprint made of Southern pine started production at this facility on January 17, 1940. The pine tree industry still thrives in the South to this day.
        Following the death of Dr. Herty in 1938, the Savannah Pulp and Paper Laboratory he started was renamed the Herty Foundation. Its research continues to this day. According to the Foundation’s website it tests and validates new process and product concepts for industries in a variety of key market sectors including: pulp and paper, chemicals, non-woven materials, and the emerging biomass-to-energy industry. The Herty Center also partners with clients to demonstrate new ideas, develop novel products. Since 2012, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal transferred management of Herty to Georgia Southern University (GSU) to enhance economic and business development in the state of Georgia.
         These are a few of the innovations of Savannah; many more could be named, such as the first refrigerated van, the ongoing work of organizations such as Savannah College of Art and Design and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. Savannah was the site of inventions by Herty and Whitney that did or still have tremendous impact on the Southern economy. Savannah has been leaders in transportation with Gulfstream, US Steamship Savannah, and Great Dane among others. So maybe Savannah is not so slow after all. 

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