This year marks the 160th anniversary of one of Savannah’s darkest moments.

"The Weeping Time," observed every year from March 2-3, marks the anniversary of the sale of 429 people in 1859 in Savannah — the largest recorded sale of enslaved people in U.S. history.

And on Saturday, residents made their way to Otis J. Brock elementary to honor those sold and revisit a sad chapter in Georgia history during the city's 160th anniversary events.

"We're here to commemorate " said Alderman Van Johnson. "But we're also here to never forget — never to forget the possibilities ... To never forget that life wasn't always the way that we enjoy it now. No person should ever be for sale."

In early 1859, Pierce M. Butler, owner of the Butler plantations near Darien and St. Simons Island, advertised the sale of 436 slaves as an effort to settle his debt to creditors. Butler had inherited his family's Georgia plantations along with his brother, but was also a well-known gambler. Butler owned more than 900 slaves; 429 ended up being transported to the former Ten Broeck horse racecourse for sale that March.

The former track site includes what is now Otis J. Brock Elementary School, which co-sponsored the observance ceremony, along with the Organization to Commemorate Enslaved African American Nationals, Journey By Faith, Ivory Bay CDC, Solomon Temple and the Georgia Historical Society.

"Sometimes when we talk about history, it's almost like we sanitize it because we don't want to offend anyone," said former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson. "It was ugly and we ought to say it was ugly. And we ought to say never again ... Those human beings were referred to as movable property ... What happened here 160 years ago speaks to the ability of enslaved people to survive."

The track was used as the main stage where Butler sold off families. The slave auction earned the title “The Weeping Time” after it was reported that the “sky had opened up” and poured for two days straight, paralleling the streams of tears running down the slaves’ faces and only stopping after the last person was sold.

In 2008, then-Mayor Otis Johnson and the Georgia Historical Society dedicated a marker recognizing the history in a small park on the intersection of Augusta Avenue and Dunn Street.

"We are happy to be a part of this event today," Christy Crisp, GHS director of programs, said Saturday. "Historical markers tell our story. Sometimes those are stories of celebration. Sometimes they are stories of great tragedy and sorrow. But they are all our stories."

Saturday's program featured guest speakers, singing of hymns and a display of 436 chairs.

To pay tribute to the tears shed, attendees raised umbrellas and took a moment of silence for the families torn apart during the auction.

Organizers also laid wreaths to honor Mortimer Thomson, a 19th-century reporter known "Doesticks" who posed as a prospective buyer during the sale to write an article about the auction, and to Fanny Kemble, Butler's wife. Kemble published a book in 1863 detailing the horrors of enslavement.

"Had she not written her book, history might have been different," said Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson of Oceans Inc. "In 1863 — during the height of the Civil War — the Confederacy appealed to Great Britain for funds and ammunition. Some historians believed that after she published her book, the British Parliament and British populace read the book and decided they would not support the Confederacy."

The anniversary commemoration continues at 11 a.m. Sunday with a service at Solomon Temple.