SSU Natural Resources
Natural Resources of the University by the Sea:
Habitats and Ecosystems of Savannah State University
First published by the Savannah State College Archives,
Volume 1, number 2 winter 1994.
For more than 100 years the beauty of Savannah State University's campus has provided an inspirational setting for intellectual and spiritual growth at "The University by the Sea." The beauty is more than skin deep. Containing elements of two biologically diverse and important coastal ecosystems, the maritime live oak forest and the salt marsh estuary, the 165-acre campus is ecologically unique among the 34 instructional units of the University System of Georgia. These natural habitats and ecosystems provide natural laboratories for instruction and research in the School of Science and Technology where they are closely linked to abundant "hands-on" exposure and experiences, particularly in the Bachelor of Science degree programs in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies.
Savannah State University, formerly Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth, was founded as a result of the Land Grant Act of 1890 which forced the Georgia General Assembly to establish a land grant college for Blacks in Georgia or risk losing federal funds. Higher education for Blacks at Atlanta University resulting from the 1862 Land Grant Act became unsuccessful when legislators withdrew the funds from the institution, arguing that since white students were being taught, the laws of segregation of races in public education in Georgia were being violated (Hall 1991). A community effort was begun on March 6, 1891, at the First African Baptist Church to secure the college for Savannah. The group convinced a commission of five persons appointed by the governor to locate the college in Savannah, and the first 76 acres of land upon which the current 165-acre campus resides was deeded to the Trustees of the University of in 1891 in two tracts: 10 acres donated by George Parsons of New York City and 66 acres were purchased from Sara B. Postell for $6,000. Bordering the predominantly white town of Thunderbolt and Southeast coastal salt marsh, the land was, at one time, part of the Placentia Plantation, later known as Warren Place and contained two large homes which became Parson's Hall, located at the site of the current swimming pool, and Boggs Hall, located in front of Camilla-Hubert Hall (Hall 1991).
Construction of buildings on the campus began near these structures on the sandy bluff overlooking the salt marsh in the area now known as Felix J. Alexis Circle. This high ground represents barrier island beach dunes that were formed during the Pleistocene epoch 35,000 to 40,000 years ago. At that time the coastline was adjacent to the current campus because the sea level was higher as the result of globally warmer temperatures and more water in the oceans from melted polar ice. Small changes in sea level coupled to tidal and wave scouring can result in significant landscape rearrangement along broad, gently-sloping, sandy, barrier island coastlines. Even without sea level changes, the action of wind, wave, and tides, especially during storms, annually re-configure barrier island coastlines. Certain places on Wassaw Island, a favorite field trip spot for SSC Marine Biology classes, have undergone changes from dune, to beach, to tide pool, to salt marsh, back to dune over a period as short as 14 years.
The campus is located in the low country, an area bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, sand hills to the west, and extending from Georgetown, South Carolina, to St. Marys, Georgia. The diverse ecological communities of the low country and campus result from the considerable influence of fresh water, salty ocean water, and the tidal mixing of them resulting in the biologically productive shallow aquatic habitats called estuaries. The low country represents one of the most extensive salt marsh estuary systems in the United States. The magnitude of the system results from the broad gently sloping sandy coast and continental shelf of the So