TCCa knows that a community’s history is vital to it’s future; one builds off the other.  Savannah is a bustling, creative community because of it’s solid foundation of heritage and tenacity, the wealth of culture, and the defining spirit of it’s people.  Thankfully we have community leaders, citizens and a city that appreciates and embraces our rich past as we blaze down the road of today.

Once upon a time in Savannah’s not-too-distant past, the Westside was a pronouncedly active, desirable place to live.  Blacks and whites alike worked nearby for manufacturers, the sugar refinery, the port and the railways.

When the City of Savannah set about rehabilitating the now depressed area (with extensive redevelopment projects such as Sustainable Fellwood) they wanted to approach plans with ambition, sensitivity and community involvement.  It was at this impetus that Low Land and the High Road was commissioned to recognize the social institutions that were once the foundation of Savannah’s Westside.

West Bay Street

Low Land is an attractive and compelling book with previously unseen pictorial essays and historic images, and recollections and narratives about three Westside neighborhoods – West Savannah, Hudson Hill, and Woodville.  According to Project Manager and City of Savannah Cultural Affairs Coordinator Michelle Hunter (who’s on our advisory board, yippie!), the book was designed to achieve two goals, “to ensure an integrated planning process that was shaped by resident input; and to produce an artistic output that critically and objectively examined the area’s value.”

Don’t miss two special events highlighting the book’s release:

Who: The City of Savannah and the Sustainable Fellwood Development Team
What: Low Land and the High Road book signing and reception
When: Tuesday, May 27th beginning 5:00 p.m.
Where: Moses Jackson Center, 1410 Richards Street (view map)

What: Low Land and the High Road public release
When: June 9th
Where: Citizens have to actual go to one of the City’s three distribution points:  Live Oak Public Library branches within the City’s corporate limits; the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs at 9 West Henry Street (view map); and Diaspora Marketplace at 510 MLK Jr. Blvd (view map).
Details: The book is free to the public but supplies are limited to one per citizen.   Folks have to complete a registration card in order to secure the book.

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