Savannah’s Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp. existed for only four years, but during those years — among the most crucial in U.S. history — it was the city’s largest employer.
Located along the Savannah River off what is now President Street Extension, the shipyard was formed in 1941 to build Liberty ships exclusively for the U.S. Navy. It would be one of 18 boatyards around the country cranking out the quickly constructed wartime cargo freighters that are widely credited with turning the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Through the war years, the Savannah shipyard built 88 Liberty ships, employed 46,766 Americans and paid out $112 million in payroll.
Recruiting thousands of workers to the area, the shipyard had an immediate need for housing adjacent to its operation. In 1941, the company purchased three undeveloped tracts totaling more than 100 acres in the area of President Street Extension and Pennsylvania Avenue, less than half a mile from the shipyard.
By 1942, construction had begun on several neighborhoods within the tracts.
More than 70 years later, the shipyard is gone, as are most of the neighborhoods. Only Pine Gardens, with its 500-plus houses, remains intact, a reminder of Savannah’s shipbuilding war effort.
On Nov. 5, Pine Gardens Historic District, roughly bounded by Beech and Capitol streets and Goebel Avenue in Savannah, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, culminating more than a decade of work by longtime residents.
The Pine Gardens Neighborhood Association sponsored the nomination, with retired engineer Charles Varner and Patricia Lennox Jenkins doing much of the heavy lifting. A consultant helped prepare the nomination materials.
The neighborhood was listed at the state level of significance because it is the largest and most intact concentration of World War II defense industry housing in the state.
After the war, Pine Gardens Annex was developed adjacent to the original subdivision to provide much-needed housing for returning veterans. In addition to the small frame houses, Pine Gardens included a shopping plaza, fire department, churches and a school, all completed by 1954.
The neighborhood is significant for its excellent examples of the American Small House, a type of house that was popular in the 1930s and 1940s in Georgia and that catered to the material shortages of World War II.
Pine Gardens is also important because it represents large-scale mobilization during World War II, which included the construction of military installations and communities that housed civilian
defense workers.
The National Register of Historic Places is our country’s official list of historic buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts worthy of preservation. The listing provides formal recognition of a property’s architectural, historical, or archaeological significance.
GPA wins communication awards
The Georgia Ports Authority brought home two Phoenix awards and two awards of excellence from the Public Relations Society of America’s Georgia chapter.
Robert Morris, GPA’s senior director of Corporate Communications, accepted the award last week in Atlanta.
The GPA also won one of the top communications awards presented by the American Association of Port Authorities, a trade association representing the entire Western Hemisphere.
The authority was announced as the winner of the 2014 Overall Communications Award of Merit at the annual AAPA convention Thursday in Houston.
While earning the overall award, GPA also brought home three awards of excellence, five awards of distinction and eight awards of merit from the AAPA competition.
In 2014, the GPA also earned a silver and a bronze Addy from the Savannah chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
“Our public relations mission is to communicate GPA’s commercial advantages while highlighting our customer service, economic development and sustainable practices,” Morris said. “Key messages showcased the reasons influential customers such as Home Depot, Rayonier, Kia and Target choose to use Georgia’s deepwater ports.
“These awards programs ensure that GPA is firing on all cylinders as we plan future communication strategies,” said ports executive director Curtis Foltz. “It is also welcome recognition of the work our Corporate Communications office has done to share our message with the public and policy makers, as well as current and potential customers.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.
TERMINAL VESSEL ETA
GCT GUANG DONG BRIDGE Today
GCT MSC ARUSHI R. Today
GCT ANNA SCHEPERS Today
GCT MUKADDES KALKAVAN Today
GCT MAERSK MONTANA Today
GCT MOL PARADISE Today
OT OBERON Today
GCT DUBAI EXPRESS Saturday
GCT CMA CGM MARLIN Saturday
GCT APL ANTWERP Saturday
GCT MAERSK DENVER Saturday
GCT MAERSK DANANG Saturday
GCT EVER LIVING Sunday
GCT CHEM VENUS Sunday
GCT MSC BRIANNA Sunday
GCT WASHINGTON EXPRESS Sunday
GCT APL AGATE Sunday
GCT MSC SHAULA Sunday
GCT VECCHIO BRIDGE Monday
GCT CMA CGM MANET Monday
GCT CMA CGM SAMSON Monday
GCT ZIM COLOMBO Monday
GCT SCT ZURICH Monday
GCT HANJIN MALTA Monday
GCT HYUNDAI SUPREME Monday
OT RED DIAMOND Monday
OT PACIFIC CYPRESS Monday
GCT NYK DIANA Tuesday
GCT ZIM RIO GRANDE Tuesday
GCT MSC FLORENTINA Tuesday
OT GREEN LAKE Tuesday
GCT CONRAD S Wednesday
GCT MSC MARIA ELENA Wednesday
GCT APL TOURMALIN Wednesday
GCT PRAIA Wednesday
GCT RDO CONCORD Wednesday
GCT HANJIN ELIZABETH Wednesday
GCT SEOUL EXPRESS Wednesday
OT TALISMAN Wednesday
OT SIFNOS Wednesday
OT GRANDE MAROCCO Wednesday
OT PACIFIC PRIMATE Wednesday
GCT MAERSK WILMINGTON Thursday
GCT MSC LAURA Thursday
GCT PORTUGAL Thursday
GCT JPO CANOPUS Thursday
GCT NYK DENEB Thursday
GCT ZIM SHANGHAI Thursday
GCT DALLAS EXPRESS Thursday
GCT MOL MAJESTY Thursday