Savannah-Ogeechee Canal

Savannah-Ogeechee Canal is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 2003.

Near Intersection of Ga 204 and Bush Rd at the Canal Museum in Savannah.

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Chartered in 1842, the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal was constructed between 1826 and 1830 by African and Irish laborers who moved thousands of cubic yards of earth. A boon to Georgia's economy, the canal moved cotton, rice, bricks, and natural fertilizer. The lumber industry revived canal usage following a Civil War-era lull, but a yellow fever epidemic, blamed on the canal, caused a further decline. The canal closed in the early 1890s as the Central of Georgia Railroad served transportation needs. Beginning at the Savannah River, the canal comprises six locks and 16.5 miles, ending at the Ogeechee River.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1816 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1823 · Unknown (Maps Collection)
1826 · Georgia (A. Finley, 1826) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1827 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia (A. Finley, 1826), 1826, covering the location of Savannah-Ogeechee Canal, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia (A. Finley, 1826), 1826, covering this location. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

More markers nearby

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