In the years prior to the Civil War, a small fleet of sailing vessels plied the waters of the southeastern coast between lower South Carolina and northeastern Florida, transporting cargoes between the port of Savannah and the small port towns and plantations of the region. These ships, single-masted sloops and two-masted schooners, were indispensable in the economy of the region where roads were few and overland travel difficult. The vessels sailed in the "coasting trade," and they became important to the state of Georgia in the late eighteenth century with the introduction of Sea Island cotton cultivation and the expansion of rice agriculture along the coast. These two crops became the most lucrative commodities transported by the "coasters." During the shipping season, from October to March, "coasters" sailed into Savannah from plantations and small towns all along this stretch of coast to unload their cargoes of Sea Island cotton and "rough" or unmilled rice. Disrupted by the American Civil War, this regional coasting trade never recovered to its pre-war importance. Drawing heavily on shipping information published in port newspapers, as well as official vessel documents, this study examines the Georgia coasting trade from 1800 to 1861. Detailed information on these coasting ships, their owners, captains, crews, and the cargoes they carried is presented for this six-decade period. This story of the little studied local coasting trade shows its vital role in the coastal plantation economy and its importance in Southern maritime history.