Georgia's oldest city is getting a historical marker that highlights its more recent past — the arrival of the NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered passenger and cargo ship.

The Georgia Historical Society and maritime groups plan to dedicate the marker Aug. 22 on the Savannah waterfront, where the city's namesake ship first arrived 50 years ago in 1962.

The NS Savannah was actually completed a year earlier as part of President Dwight Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative. Powered by an onboard nuclear reactor, the ship carried cargo and passengers from 1961 until 1972.

Nuclear-powered civilian ships failed to gain wide acceptance and the NS Savannah was retired from service.

Decades later, the decommissioned ship remains moored at a private shipping terminal in Baltimore.

Tags: Savannah, Georgia Historical Society, riverfront, historical marker, NS Savannah, nuclear-powered ship