The story
Read it all →How Savannah came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Savannah.
Savannah was laid out in 1818. A post office called Savannah has been in operation since 1839.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Savannah
Savannah dates to 1818, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1860.
1818founded
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Savannah began
When was Savannah founded?
1818
Savannah dates its founding to 1818 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
First census: 2,230 in 18602020 census: 329208 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
What stands out about Savannah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Savannah are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Savannah’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19083 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1972. Watch Savannah change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1818: 208 years of Savannah.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Savannah’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Savannah’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Savannah on the map, 1908 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Savannah. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Ashland sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Savannah.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Savannah, 1863–1909
Passages that mention Savannah, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ashland County, Ohio1909 · page 131Read the page →
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The town of Savannah being pleasantly situated and on a leading road it was a place of considerable business for a number of years, and during the period of the evolution of counties it was a prominent candidate for the seat of justice for a new county. Savannah was laid out December 25th, 1818, and was named Vermillion, although the place was locally known as Haney town, for the Rev. James Haney, an early resident of the place, and who had served several terms in the legislature as a representative from Ashland county. Rev.
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1909 · page 132Read the page →
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A Presbyterian church was organized in Savannah in 1833. This church was an offshoot from the Hopewell church of Ashland. A Free Presbyterian church was organized in Savannah in 1851, with F. M. Finney, minister. The United Presbyterian church was organized there in June, 1858, by combining members of what was before known as the Associate and the Associate Reform Presbyterian churches, with J. W. Ashenhurst as pastor. The Associate Reform Congregation of Savannah was organized in September, 1831, by the late Rev.
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1863 · page 505Read the page →
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had not been a surveyed road in the township. He carried the chain for the surveyor who established the first road, which led from Sheets’s saw-mill, on the east line of Montgomery Township, via of Jacob Young’s and Leidigh’s mill to Savannah — although at that time there was no Sheets’s or Leidigh’s mills or town of Savannah. Mr. Bishop was elected, at the first election held in Orange, constable for the township. Where the town of Orange now stands, at a log-rolling he saw a span of horses, which had
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1863 · page 152Read the page →
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Haney the three quarters, upon a part of which is now the town of Savannah; and Mr. Shaw the quarter section upon which his descendants now reside; and Richard Freeborn entered a quarter section, in the name of his brother John, on the west line of Orange Township, and about one mile east of Savannah.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Savannah, 1818 to 1908
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1818FoundingSavannah is established
- 1825Born hereMilton L. Haney is born here
- 1828Post officeThe Clear Creek post office opens
- 1839Post officeThe Clear Creek post office closes
- 1839Post officeThe Savannah post office opens
- 1846
Born hereSarah Hearst Black is born here - 20th century
- 1908
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Savannah, decade by decade
2016
2016
2016
2015
2012
2004People over time
Savannah, census by census
Between 262 and 2,230 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Savannah’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Savannah
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Savannah’s post office has been open since 1839. Another post office, Clear Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clear Creek
Savannah
18201920today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Savannah’s history
What year was Savannah founded?
In 1818, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Savannah’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1860 counted 2,230 people here.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.