Reprinted from The Right Way Magazine, Volume 51, No. 5
An association of over a century was partially severed when the Central of Georgia Railway Company sold its waterfront property to the State of Georgia Nov. 15, 1958.
The Central of Georgia operations have been tied closely with Savannah’s waterfront since 1847 when the company, then known as the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, helped establish a line of “steam packets” from Savannah to New York— small steam and sail propelled vessels which were the ancestors of the Ocean Steamship Company fleet.
Only a few years after the railroad had established a line of “unprecedented length,” 191 miles to Macon, the company turned its attention to extending its operation seaward from the interior of Georgia. Records of the 1840s indicate that the line did well for itself, for the thriving port of Savannah, and for the railroad, one of its principal sponsors. The operation of these steam packets played an important part in the progress and development of the port of Savannah.
The War Between the States, with its tight blockade of the South, brought an end to port activities and expansion. But with the end of the war the Central resumed its port development activities, which soon led to the formation of the Ocean Steamship Company.
Looking both to the interior and to the sea, Central’s president in 1870, William M. Wadley, negotiated for the purchase of the Vale Royal Plantation, with 273 acres of land fronting the Savannah River. In 1871, three acres were added, making a total of 276 acres of land to realize the president’s avowed conviction that to fulfill the railroad’s destiny it “must have a way to carry our track to the water.”
It was these 276 acres which provided sites not only for the large and modern docks and warehouses of the Central of Georgia and its connecting lines—the Ocean Steamship Company and the Merchants & Miners Transportation Company—but sites for important industries as well.
Until 1872 the railroad was dependent upon contract with private ship owners for traffic to and from the North. This arrangement was unsatisfactory and in that year, the Central bought six steamships. Two years later, a separate corporation was formed, the Ocean Steamship Company. These ships and the riverfront terminals were made a part of the assets of the new company, making the Central the principal owner of the new company.
The first service of the new company was between Savannah and New York, with service to and from Boston and Philadelphia added later. Service was continuous from 1872 until March of 1942, when war conditions along the Atlantic Coast brought discontinuance of this operation.
Time has proven that the project begun by the Central of Georgia in 1870 was one of the most farsighted and helpful in the history of the development of Savannah from a small coastal city into one of the country’s leading ports.
The Central remains vitally interested in the port expansion program of the Savannah terminals. Its yards are located adjacent to the property acquired by the State and the railroad will continue to serve the port with its rail facilities.