Welcome to the City of Pooler, Georgia
The City of Pooler, Georgia is located in Chatham County at the intersection of I-95 and I-16, ten miles west of Savannah and within two miles of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. The City encompasses an area of approximately 31 square miles and has a current population of around 28,738.
Pooler was named for Captain Robert William Pooler in 1838. A civic-minded Savannah resident, Captain Pooler spent part of his multifaceted career with the Central of Georgia Railroad. He worked long and hard to establish a feasibility study of the towns and counties through which a proposed railroad would extend.
During the Civil War, Pooler was a railway stop called Pooler’s Station and was the last railroad stop before Savannah. In December 1864, Pooler was a meeting place for Union officers led by William Tecumseh Sherman, who negotiated with Savannah authorities for the strategic port city’s peaceful surrender. In 1883, Mr. Ben Rothwell, bought several hundred acres in the community and pioneered a new method of community development by giving free lots to builders to erect permanent homes. The first Baptist Church followed shortly thereafter, and a sawmill was built to supply lumber to homebuilders.
The community began to take shape, and in 1907, Pooler was incorporated with only 337 residents. Mr. H.G. Beaufort was the first mayor when a town hall was erected, providing a permanent place to conduct municipal business. One of the first women to vote in the State of Georgia was Mrs. Gary Goggins, who was also the only woman alderman for the Town of Pooler in the early 1900’s.
Over a century later, Pooler has grown by leaps and bounds with the establishment of banks, retail shops, professional offices, warehouses, and restaurants. Today, Pooler serves as the center for commercial development in west Chatham County. A low crime rate and the small-town community feel are all factors in the area’s explosive growth.
Pooler City Hall currently employs over 200 staff members and provides a full range of municipal services, including general government, public safety (police and fire), recreation, street and drainage maintenance, code enforcement, solid waste collection and disposal, and water and sewer utilities.