Savannah History Museum is located inside what was once the Savannah passenger depot for The Central of Georgia Railway. Chartered in 1833, The Central of Georgia once owned much of the property on the west end of the city, including the office and freight buildings to the north of the museum now owned by Savannah College of Art & Design, as well as the repair facility to the south which now houses Georgia State Railroad Museum. At the turn of the 20th century, the Central also operated Ocean Steamship Company with offices on the east and west coasts of the United States. By the end of the Central’s lifetime in 1963, when the railway was absorbed by Southern, its rail lines extended into Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida.

The construction of the Central’s passenger station was begun prior to the Civil War and completed after the war ended. Passenger service - including Savannah’s most famous passenger line, The Nancy Hanks II, which took passengers between Savannah and Atlanta - ceased in 1971.

Coastal Heritage Society began managing the facility in 1990 and envisioned the site as a traditional collection-based gallery, now Savannah History Museum.

Over the last 25 years, Coastal Heritage Society has cultivated visitor experience at the site, caring for a collection of over 30,000 historic artifacts and working with community partners and institutions to develop exhibits, events, and educational programming to showcase Savannah’s fascinating and diverse history.

Battlefield Memorial Park

Battlefield Memorial Park is a preserved portion of a Revolutionary War battle site. In late 1778, in the early years of the American Revolution, the British captured the city of Savannah as part of their Southern Campaign, a strategy to locate and utilize Loyalist sympathies they believed existed within many communities in the South. On October 9, 1779, a weeks-long siege by American and French forces attempting to retake the city ended with a final attack when they stormed the British-occupied Spring Hill Redoubt here on the western edge of the city. The battle lasted about an hour and left 800 casualties, 750 of which were French and American. The battle was a crushing defeat for the American and French forces, and Savannah remained under British control until the end of the war. 

Notable details about the battle are the diversity of its participants and the participation of what is believed to be the largest contingent of Black soldiers to fight in the Revolution - the Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint Domingue, a unit of free Black and mixed-race men from what is now Haiti, fighting as part of the French army. The famed Polish-American General Casimir Pulaski, now known as ‘The Father of the American Cavalry,’ was mortally wounded in this battle. Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens,  featured in the popular historical musical Hamilton, also fought at Savannah on October 9th. 

In the 19th century, The Central Rail Road and Banking Company, later The Central of Georgia Railway, purchased the land which is now Battlefield Memorial Park, and the land served as part of the Central’s repair facilities. When the Central’s Savannah Shops closed in the early 1960s, the land was abandoned and became overgrown.

Beginning in 2003, Coastal Heritage Society transformed this once-blighted historic site through SPLOST and grant-funded projects focusing on research and interpretive planning, archaeological digs, and restoration projects, most notably a downscaled version of an earthen fort similar to Spring Hill Redoubt and other redoubts that surrounded the city in 1779.

Coastal Heritage Society hosts an annual Battlefield Memorial March on October 9th to commemorate the battle with the participation of many international, national, state, and local history and heritage organizations and government representatives, as well as individuals with an interest or family tie to the historical event itself. This event is free and open to the public.

Savannah History Museum offers regular Loyalists & Liberty Battlefield Tours which detail the Southern Campaign & Savannah's story in the American Revolution. A very similar program called The Siege of Savannah Program is also available as a booked program for field trips and groups.

Battlefield Memorial Park is a public park and is available to enjoy as a self-guided experience.

Coastal Heritage Society may be contacted by mail at: