Description:

The applicant is requesting approval to install a Georgia Historical Society Historical Marker near 1 East Bay Street in the green space between Bay Street and Factors Walk near the Gamble Building. The proposed marker is to read as follows:

Southern States Phosphate and Fertilizer
The Fertilizer Industry in the South
The fertilizer industry in the South began when Southern cities like Savannah and Charleston
started producing fertilizer following the 1867 discovery of phosphate in South Carolina.
Initially wary of the new technology, Southern farmers gradually adopted the use of phosphate
fertilizer to counteract decades of poor agricultural practices, leading to a boom in American
food production and fostering the industry’s growth in an economically depressed South.
Founded in Augusta, Southern States Phosphate and Fertilizer Company relocated to Savannah
in 1902, taking advantage of the port and expanding global trade. During World War I, the US
production of phosphate-based munitions significantly increased, helping Savannah become the
second-largest fertilizer production point in the world by 1924. Southern States was purchased
by Savannahians A.D. Strobhar and Franklin Reed Dulany in 1934, and is a subsidiary of Dulany
Industries, Inc.
Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and Dulany Industries, Inc.

The estimated overall cost for a historical marker within the Georgia Historical Marker Program is $5,000.00. The Georgia Historical Society has secured funds of $5,000.00 for the total cost of the historical
marker. The applicant has accepted and taken on the role of all future maintenance of the marker, relinquishing the requirement of supplying an escrow payment to the City of Savannah.

File No. 22-001027-HM

The Historic Site and Monument Commission recommends approval to the Savannah City Council to install a Georgia Historical Society Historical Marker near 1 East Bay Street because the proposed work meets the Master Plan and Guidelines.