Yamacraw Bluff is a bluff situated on the southern bank of the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

. Now completely enclosed within downtown

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, the bluff is most notable for being the site upon which General

James Edward Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to re ...

arrived to settle the British colony of Georgia. The area was originally inhabited by the

Yamacraw The Yamacraw were a Native American band that emerged in the early 18th century, occupying parts of what became Georgia, specifically along the bluffs near the mouth of the Savannah River where it enters the Atlantic Ocean. They were made up of ...

Indians. A stone marker and statue now adorn the bluff in honor of its historic significance.

History

Yamacraw Bluff was first inhabited around 1730 by a group of Creek Indians who named themselves after the bluff. Their chief,

Tomochichi Tomochichi (to-mo-chi-chi') (c. 1644 – October 5, 1741) was the head chief of a Yamacraw town on the site of present-day Savannah, Georgia, in the 18th century. He gave his land to James Oglethorpe to build the city of Savannah. He remains a p ...

, was also the founder of the tribe. In 1733, General James Oglethorpe and 114 colonists landed on the bluff. The general went on to found the town of Savannah with the help of the chief and a local interpreter,

Mary Musgrove Mary Musgrove (Muscogee name, Coosaponakeesa, c. 1700–1765) was a leading figure in early Georgia history. Mary was the daughter of Edward Griffin, a trader from Charles Town in the Province of Carolina, of English heritage, and a Muscogee Cree ...

. The Native Yamacraws eventually left the bluff to merge with a larger inland tribe, having occupied the bluff for less than two decades.

Monuments and markers

In anticipation of the 1933 bicentennial celebration of Georgia's founding, a stone marker was laid on

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stree ...

in a small park just west of

Savannah City Hall Savannah City Hall is the seat of government for the city of Savannah, Georgia, United States. Designed by architect Hyman Witcover, the building was built between 1904 and 1905 and opened the following year. It is a contributing property to ...

. The marker, erected in 1930, reads: :This is Yamacraw Bluff where the Colony of Georgia was founded, February 12, 1733, by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe Voted by the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution The Most Historic Spot in Georgia.

References

{{Reflist Landforms of Chatham County, Georgia Cliffs of the United States Landforms of Georgia (U.S. state)

History

Monuments and markers

See also

References