Savannah's Midnight Hour

ISBN: 9-780-8203-5632-7

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Boosterism, Growth, and Commerce in a Nineteenth-Century American City

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Savannah's economic public policy demonstrates both the risks and rewards of aggressive municipal entrepreneurship

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In the nineteenth century, American cities were at the forefront of funding economic growth. Savannah’s leaders embarked on a spending spree to expand the city’s commercial footprint. Initially successful, these activities eventually brought Savannah to the brink of bankruptcy. While officials blamed the city's near financial collapse in early 1877 on a taxpayer revolt and the yellow fever scourge, the real culprit was a long-standing ideology of over-optimistic risk-taking. Though critics attacked this type of extravagance, municipal spending for the sake of economic expansion was risky but rational. Savannah’s experience demonstrates both the risks and rewards of aggressive municipal entrepreneurship.

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In 1877, the city of Savannah defaulted on its loans. As creditors circled, leaders attempted to deflect blame onto a recent yellow fever outbreak and a taxpayer revolt. In reality, municipal default was a crisis decades in the making. Beginning in the 1820's and continuing into the 1870's, city leaders consistently endorsed a policy of mortgaging the city’s future. They left settlement to future taxpayers.