Savannah Relics

1899 Magic Lantern Slide - Officers of the 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Camp Onward

The 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry mustered into service on June 2, 1898 in Des Moines, Iowa. Bound for Jacksonville’s Camp Cuba Libre. They were still there when fighting ended on August 13th. They left Jacksonville on October 25th, arriving at Camp Onward in Savannah, Georgia the following day. Eventually the unit served in Cuba as part of the occupation forces, leaving Savannah on December 19, 1898 aboard the U.S. Transport “MINNAWASKA” bound for Havana, Cuba.

Magic Lanterns, or lanterna magica, were early slide projectors popular through the 18th and 19th centuries. They were superseded in the mid-20th century by modern day 35mm slide projectors.

1909 Postcard of Tornado Damage to Home

Between April 29 and May 1 in 1909, an outbreak of tornadoes swept through the midwestern and southeastern United States. Forty-three confirmed tornadoes touched down in just a few days, killing at least 180 people and injuring nearly 800.

One such tornado (an F2) hit Savannah on May 1st, tearing off the uppermost level of a four-story building and wrecking one home. One person was killed and another injured.