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The Most Beautiful City in America It has been called the most beautiful city in America. It also is the subject of a very popular book about murder. The story of Savannah, Georgia, is our report today. Savannah, Georgia, is not huge. It is only the 3rd largest city in this Southern state. It has about 140 thousand people. Yet few American cities have protected their past as well as Savannah. It has beautiful old houses. It has parks with trees and colorful flowers. A visit to Savannah today shows that life was like in the Southern United States 200 years ago. English settlers established the city of Savannah in 1733. They were led by General James Oglethorpe. General Oglethorpe and 120 settlers landed at Yamakaroo bluff on the Savannah River. They chose the place for the city of Savannah on a hill above the river. It was 29 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean. General Oglethorpe decided to make Savannah as beautiful as a city could be. He designed the streets in an unusual way. Many did not cross each other. Instead, they ended in large open square areas. There are 21 such public squares in Savannah. They have grass, trees, flowers and statues. They also have places for people to sit and enjoy the beauty. In the 1700s Savannah became a busy port city for exporting farm products. In 1793 Eliwhiteney was teaching on a cotton farm near the city. He invented a machine that removed seeds from the cotton plant. Until then the seed had to be removed by hand. The work was very hard. Eliwhiteney’’s invention was called the "cotton gin". It greatly improved the ability to produce cotton. The cotton gin made cotton the most important product in the American South. And it increased importance of Savannah as a port city. Savannah became the world’’s leading market for cotton. The Savannah Cotton Exchange set the price of cotton around the world. The city became rich. Rich people began to build large beautiful houses. The city continued to grow richer until the early 1860s. That is when America’’s Northern states fought the rebel Southern states in the Civil War. One of the most famous Northern generals was William Sherman. He led union troops to seize control of rebel territory in the South. General Sherman captured the city of Atlanta. From Atlanta he marched his troops through the heart of Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean. It was known as Sherman’’s March to the Sea. The Union troops burned all the houses, farms, animals and food supplies on their way. The purpose was to destroy popular support for the rebellion of the Southern states. General Sherman said, "The Union must make old and young, rich and poor feel the hard hand of war." The people of Savannah learned what General Sherman had done to the rest of Georgia. They did not want the same thing to happen to them. So they offered to surrender their beautiful city if he promised not to bum it. General Sherman accepted the offer. In December, 1864, he sent a message to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington. It said, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift—the city of Savannah." Sherman’’s gift included 150 heavy guns, ammunition and 25 thousand bales of cotton. The Civil War hurt Savannah’’s economy. And years of growing nothing but cotton damaged the soil. An insect called the boll weevil destroyed the plant. By 1920, little cotton was left. During the 1900s, manufacturing took the place of cotton farming. Savannah’’s shipping industry continued to grow. However, many old houses were tearing down, or they fell apart. One visitor said the city was like a beautiful woman with a dirty face. In the 1950s some citizens of Savannah became angry when more old houses were being threatened by development. One company wanted to destroy a house to build a parking area for cars. A group of 7 women decided to save the house. They asked people for money. They collected enough money to buy the house and prevent it from being destroyed. These women later formed the Historic Savannah Foundation. The organization identifies buildings that should be saved because of their historic or architectural importance. It is responsible for protecting many fine old buildings in Savannah. More than one thousand buildings have been saved and fixed. Savannah has the largest historic area of any city in the United States. There are many different kinds of old houses. Many have been influenced by English, Greek and Roman architecture. Many are open to the public. To restore old buildings, workers must remove old paint. When workers removed old paint from old buildings in Savannah, they found a surprise. Under the white paint were the true colors of the buildings—blue, green, gold and pink. These houses were repainted in their true colors. This makes Savannah one of the most colorful cities in America. John Barrett is a magazine writer and editor from New York City. In 1982 he visited Savannah for a weekend. He fell in love with the city and its people. He returned many times during the next 8 years. He talked to many people. He gathered information for a book about the city. Last year Mr. Barrett’’s book was published. It is called MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. It is one of the most popular books. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL is a travel book and a murder mystery. It tells a true story of murder that took place in Savannah in 1981. The accused killer was a rich man who bought and sold valuable old furniture. The victim was a wild young man who worked for him. The rich man was tried 4 times for the crime. Was it murder or self-defense John Barrett’’s book also describes the traditional social gatherings of Savannah’’s richest citizens. And it tells about some of the city’’s unusual people and places. For example, there is a man who has a bottle of poison which is so powerful that it could kill every person in a nightclub. And there is a woman who is an expert in Voodoo religion. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL has been one of the best selling books in America for more than 18 months. It has been translated into several languages including German, Japanese, Portuguses, Norwegian and Italian. And it is being taught in English classes at 2 American universities. The book also has helped bring more visitors to Savannah. Georgia State officials say tourism has increased by 46 percent since the book was published. Many visitors carry the book with them as they visit the city. They want to see where all the events took place. The cover of the book shows a statue of a young girl in one of Savannah’’s famous burial places—Bunoventure cemetery. The statue is no longer there, however. It was removed because too many visitors wanted to take pictures of it. They walked and climbed everywhere, causing a lot of damage to the cemetery. The people of Savannah generally have accepted the increasing visitors that the book has brought. However, they do not want their city to change. That is why they continue to protect their historic areas. The people of Savannah say they like their city just the way it is. During the 1900s, manufacturing______cotton farming, and Savannah’’s shipping industry continued to grow.