Chatham
County is the northernmost of Georgia's six coastal counties.
Named for William Pitt the Elder, earl of Chatham, it was formed
out of Christ Church Parish and St. Phillip Parish in 1777. It
is the fifth oldest county in Georgia and is the home of Savannah,
which serves as the county seat. Other incorporated towns include
Bloomingdale, Garden City, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Thunderbolt,
Tybee Island, and Vernonburg. Situated between the Savannah
River and the Ogeechee River, Chatham County is bordered by Effingham
County,
Bryan County, and the state
of South Carolina. On the coast, Chatham County shares St.
Catherines Sound with Liberty County.
Although Georgia was originally
planned as a colony with no slaves, Savannah and Chatham County
became a port for the importing
of
slaves after 1750. The port of Savannah was also used to
ship cotton, naval stores, and other trade goods.
The American Revolution
began in 1775, and Chatham County was occupied by the British
in 1778. In October 1779 the
British
successfully
defended Savannah from the colonial and French armies during
the Siege of Savannah. After the war Chatham County grew
in population along with Savannah, which became one of
the South's
most important
ports. During
the Civil War (1861-65), Chatham County became an important center
of trade for the Confederacy, as the multitude of
creeks and rivers in the area made the total blockade of
the port
of Savannah difficult for the Union. Other than the brief
attack on Fort Pulaski
in April 1862, and a minor skirmish on Whitmarsh Island,
the war bypassed Chatham County until the very end, when
Union general
William T. Sherman occupied the area in December 1864 at
the
end
of his march to the sea. Sherman issued his famous "Forty
Acres and a Mule" Field Order No. 15 here on January
16, 1865. In 1912 Juliette Gordon Low established the nation's
first Girl
Scout troop in Savannah.
Modern Chatham County is an important
industrial and transportation
center. Major companies like International Paper and Kerr-McGee
have plants here. The Savannah–Hilton Head International
Airport serves both coastal Georgia and South Carolina and
is home to Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. The Savannah River
ports of Savannah, Garden City, and Port Wentworth service
ships from around the world, handling
more than 2,000
different ships in 2002. Tourism has become a major industry
in the Savannah-Chatham
area as well. The annual St. Patrick's Day parade through
the historic district is one of the largest such events
in the
United States.
The summer months attract visitors to Tybee Island, which
has one of the few public beaches in Georgia. The city
of Savannah
has
become a popular location for Hollywood filmmaking. Many
movies and television shows have been shot there, including Midnight
in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997).
