Landmark designation

The American Chemical Society designated the Savannah Pulp and Paper Laboratory a National Historic Chemical Landmark on September 26, 2001. The plaque commemorating the event reads:

Charles Holmes Herty (1867-1938)—Georgia chemist, educator and advocate for the development of U.S. industries—founded and directed this laboratory, originally housed in a warehouse at 512 W. River Street provided by the Savannah Electric and Power Company. Herty's research proved that valuable products such as newsprint, white paper and rayon fibers could be made from young, fast-growing southern pine trees. The resulting technology catalyzed the pulp and paper industry in the South and helped revive the region's economy during the Great Depression. Cultivation of the southern pine also conserved the slow-growing northern hardwood forests. In 1938, the laboratory became the Herty Foundation now located on Brampton Road.

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