YAMACRAW, along the west side of W. Broad St., occupied almost entirely by Negroes, stands on the site of an Indian village of the same name, where Oglethorpe parleyed with the Indians. In this concentrated area live approximately three thousand Negroes, among whom are old men and women who once were slaves. Root doctors and "cunjur" folk ply their trade for a small fee, and at small shops can be purchased such remedies as Vang-Vang Oil, Lucky Mojoe Drops of Love, or Mojoe Incense to bring love and luck to the buyer and confusion to his enemies. Most of the houses are dilapidated, unpainted, and crowded.
---Georgia, a Guide to its Towns and Countryside, 1940
From the plaques in the Yamacraw Park
Yamacraw Village:
I AM THE NEXT WAVE HEADED FOR THE SHORE
NAMELESS
ALTHOUGH MY NATURE IS APPARENT
FORMLESS
AND YET MY FORCE IS FELT
I RISE UP WITHIN THE COLLECTIVE BODY
FLOWING TOGETHER AS A SINGLE SEA
I AM THE NEXT WAVE FILLED WITH HISTORY
A LEGACY PERSUASIVE
AN ENDLESS FLOW
AGAIN AND AGAIN I HAVE SWELLED BECOMING
AND RACED UNDAUNTED
TOWARDS THE SHORE
THE STREETS OF THE CITY
BEAR MY MARKINGS
CHANGED FOREVER CHANGED ONCE MORE
SO SHALL THE FUTURE
YIELD UNTO ME
CHANGED FOREVER CHANGED ONCE MORE
Jerome B. Meadows
Unnamed plaque
1500 Irene Mound, of the late Mississippi Period, is marked by a mound complex, elaborate burial customs, and developed ceramic and technical skills.
1717 Tomochichi attends Peace Conference called by SC Governor as representative of the Creek Micos of Coweta in South Carolina. His name is noted as Bacachee.
1726 Hostilities between the British and the Native population results in a treaty in which Tomochichi acts as the representative of Pallachicola, a Creek town.
1730 Tomochichi, along with a small group, is exiled from his village, possibly for favoring the British against other Creek who supported the Spanish; he selects Yamacraw Bluff as his new home territory.
1733 General James Ogelthorpe lands on Yamacraw Bluff; Tomochichi facilitates treaty between British and Creek Micos.
1734 Tomochichi, his wife Senauki, his nephew Toonahowei, as well as 6 other Creeks, travel to England to ratify treaty.
1739 Tomochichi dies requesting burial in Savannah. Ogelthorpe gives him a military funeral and buries him in Percival Square, later named Wright Square. Ogelthorpe erects a mound of iron stone over the grave in the center of the square which remains until 1882 when it is replaced by the William Washington Gordon Monument.
1751-1767 Colonists negotiate with Creeks for Yamacraw; portion of area owned by John Rae who opens trading post, other areas used as commons for town gardens, rice fields and pastures.
1774 George Liele is baptized and received in Burke County church; he is permitted to preach along the river during which he converts Andrew Bryan and his wife Hannah to the Baptist faith.
1785 City officially names the Yamacraw area Ogelthorpe Ward, bounded from Indian Street to Spring Hill.
1788 Rev. Abraham Marshall ordains Andrew Bryan who begins preaching to slaves along the Savannah river.
1793 Andrew Bryan purchases lot #7 of Middle Ogelthorpe Ward for 30 pounds ($150.00) and builds his church on the site of the present day First Bryan Baptist - the oldest property continuously owned by African Americans in the U.S.
1812 Andrew Bryan dies after serving as Pastor for over 25 years.
1815 Andrew C. Marshall becomes the second Pastor of the church.
1826 First Sunday School for African Americans started under leadership of Independent Presbyterian Church with First Bryan Baptist Church.
1848 Census records describe Yamacraw area as having a population of 999 Whites, 1,327 Colored, 5 brick houses, 451 wooden houses, a railroad depot, offices, warehouses and workshops.
1856 Division of area into three Wards: North, Middle and South; Middle and South serving industrial purposes, the North providing lodging for slaves, sailors, railroad and dock workers, saloons and bawdy houses.
1883 A fire of unknown origin starts in a cotton warehouse on Fahm Street; three people are killed, 300 buildings are destroyed and 1,278 people are left homeless; many white residents do not return and Yamacraw becomes a predominantly African American community.
1888 First Bryan completes construction of the present day Church.
1938 Newly created Housing Authority of Savannah begins plans to renovate Yamacraw.
1941 First residents move into renamed Yamacraw Village, a pioneering model of federally funded, low rent housing featuring solar heated water