Savannah City Hall is the

seat of government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

for the city of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Hyman Witcover Hyman Wallace Witcover (July 16, 1871 – October 2, 1936) was an architect prominent in Savannah, Georgia. He worked as a draftsman for Alfred Eichberg and eventually partnered with him. Life and career Witcover was born in Darlington, South Ca ...

, the building was built between 1904 and 1905 and opened the following year. It is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Savannah Historic District Savannah Historic District may refer to: *Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia), a National Historic Landmark district in Georgia * Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, Savannah, Georgia, a historic district ...

History

The location for the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was formerly home to the City Exchange, which had been built in 1799 and was

demolished Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

in 1904.''Savannah, 1733 to 2000: Photographs from the Collection of the Georgia Historical Society'', Susan E. Dick, Mandi D. Johnson, Georgia Historical Society (2001), p. 118 Following the building's demolition, the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

for the city hall was laid on August 11, 1904 in a large ceremony. The

behind the project was

, who is notable for several other buildings in the area, while construction was handled by the Savannah Contracting Company. The construction occurred during the administration of Savannah Mayor Herman Myers, who pursued numerous

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

projects during his tenure as mayor. Commenting on the building, Myers reported that, "it will typify the twentieth century Savannah, the Savannah of indomitable energy, of punishing progressiveness," and that the building is "a monument to the progressive spirit that marks the Savannah of today." The building was the first building built solely to serve as the

for the city. The construction of the building cost upwards of $250,000 and was completed in 1905. The building, located across the street from the United States Customhouse, is an example of

Renaissance Revival architecture Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

and featured an exterior of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, capped by a

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. Initial plans called for four

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s of

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

s on the tops of the building's four corners, but financial limitations prevented this. The building officially opened on January 2, 1906. In 1987, the dome was covered in

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

. In 2014, the

Georgia Historical Society The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and ta ...

, working with the mayor and

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

, erected a

Georgia historical marker A Historic marker is an "Alamo"-shaped plaque affixed to the top of a pole and erected next to a significant historic site, battlefield or county courthouse. In the state of Georgia there are roughly 2,000 historic markers. Kevin Levin of the ...

at the city hall.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * {{Official website, https://www.savannahga.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/City-Hall-242 1905 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Government buildings in Savannah, Georgia City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Clock towers in Georgia (U.S. state) Government buildings completed in 1905 Historic district contributing properties in Georgia (U.S. state) Renaissance Revival architecture in Georgia (U.S. state) Savannah Historic District