The Historic Site and Monument Commission recommends approval of the request to install a historic marker honoring African-American entrepreneur Louis B. Toomer in Chatham Square. The historical marker text relates the impact of Toomer's influence on the Savannah African-American Business District, as well as his role on a national level as Register of the Treasury. 

The historical marker is to be mounted on a post.  The marker will be funded by the Georgia Historical Society, in partnership with Carver State Bank.  The City of Savannah will install the marker; it will be maintained by the Georgia Historical Society.

The text of the marker shall read:

Louis B. Toomer: Founder of the Carver State Bank

Louis Burke Toomer, African-American leader, local bank founder, and realtor, was born in Savannah in 1897.  Raised and educated locally, Toomer established the Georgia Savings and Realty Corporation on February 23, 1927, in the historic black business district on West Broad Street.  During segregation, the company provided banking, investment, and insurance services for blacks who were not always allowed access to white banking establishments.  In 1947, the name of the corporation changed to The Carver Savings Bank, and it was converted to a State-supervised savings bank.  It became Carver State Bank in 1962.  A staunch Republican who served as a delegate at three GOP conventions, Toomer was appointed Register of the Treasury (1953-1956) by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Toomer died in 1961 and a bronze sundial was erected in his honor in 1964 in Chatham Square.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and the Carver State Bank

Approval