Augusta, Georgia
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Augusta is a city located in the state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population is 199,775. In 1996 the governments of the City of Augusta and Richmond County combined to form a single governing body known as Augusta-Richmond County. Augusta is the second-largest city and the second-largest metropolitan area in Georgia, after Atlanta.
The city was originally named after Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, and was the second state capital of Georgia (alternating for a period with Savannah, the first).
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Geography
GAMap-doton-Augusta.PNG
Location of Augusta, Georgia
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 851 km² (328 mi²). 839 km² (324 mi²) of it is land and 11 km² (4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.34% water.
Augusta is located about halfway up the Savannah River on the fall line, providing a number of small falls on the Savannah River. The Clarks Hill Dam is also built on the fall line near Augusta, forming Lake Strom Thurmond, formerly known as Clarks Hill Lake. Further downstream, near the border of Columbia County, is the Stevens Creek Dam, which separates the Savannah River from the Augusta Canal.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 199,775 people, 73,920 households, and 49,526 families residing in the county. The population density is 238/km² (616/mi²). There are 82,312 housing units at an average density of 98/km² (254/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 45.55% White, 49.75% African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.01% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. 2.78% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 73,920 households out of which 33.60% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.80% are married couples living together, 20.80% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% are non-families. 27.70% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.50% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.55 and the average family size is 3.13.
In the county the population is spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 12.00% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $33,086, and the median income for a family is $38,509. Males have a median income of $29,667 versus $22,760 for females. The per capita income for the county is $17,088. 19.60% of the population and 16.20% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 27.20% are under the age of 18 and 14.10% are 65 or older.
History
The location of Augusta was first used by Native Americans as a place to cross the Savannah River, because of Augusta's location on the fall line. But the settlement of Augusta didn't yet exist.
In 1735, two years after James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, he sent a detachment of troops on a journey up the Savannah River. He gave them an order to built at the head of the navigable part of the river. The job fell into the hands of Nobel Jones, who created the settlement to provide a first line of defense against the Spanish and the French. Oglethorpe then named the town Augusta, after Princess Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
The town was laid out on the flat slopes of the Savannah River, just east of the sand hills that would come to be known as "Summerville". The townspeople got along peacefully (most of the time) with the surrounding tribes of Creek and Cherokee Indians.
In 1739, construction began on a road to connect Augusta to Savannah. This made it possible for people to reach Augusta by horse, rather than by boat. Because of this, more people began to migrate inland to Augusta. Later on, in 1750, Augusta's first church, St. Paul's, was built near Fort Augusta. It became the leader of the local parish.
In 1777, under Georgia's new constitution, a new political structure would be laid out and Augusta's parish government would be replaced by a new county government, Richmond County, which was named after the Duke of Richmond.
During the American Revolution, Savannah fell to the British. This left Augusta as the new state capital and a new prime target of the British. By January 31, 1779, Augusta was captured by Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell. But Campbell soon withdrew, as American troops were gathering on the opposite shore of the Savannah River. Augusta again became the state capital, but not for long. Augusta fell into British hands once more before the end of the war.
From then until the American Civil War, with the establishment of the Augusta Canal, Augusta became a leader in the production of textiles, gunpowder, and paper. The Georgia Railroad was built by local contractors Fannin, Grant & Co in 1845 giving Augusta a rail link to Atlanta which connected to the Tennessee River (at Chattanooga, Tennessee) thus providing access to the Mississippi River. The cost-savings of this link from the middle of the country to the Atlantic Ocean via the Savannah River increased trade considerably and it had a population of 12,493 by 1860, being just one of 102 U.S. cities at the time to have a population of over 10,000, and making it the second largest city in Georgia. But then came war.
Originally, Augustans welcomed the idea of war. The new Confederate Powderworks that opened boosted trade and job opportuinities. Many Augustans went away to fight in the war, not knowing the terrors that awaited them. War did not set into the minds of Augustans until the summer of 1863. It was in that year that thousands of refugees from areas threatened by invasion came crowding into Augusta, leading to shortages in housing and provisions. Next came the threatening nearness of General Sherman's advancing army, causing panic in the streets of this once quiet town.
In 1828, the Georgia General Assembly granted a formal charter for the Medical Academy of Georgia and a school began training physicians in two borrowed rooms of the City Hospital. By 1873, an affiliation was made with the University of Georgia and the school became the Medical Department of the University. The School became the Medical College of Georgia in 1956 and forms the anchor of a heavily developed medical sector in the city.
Unlike most Southern cities, Postbellum life for Augusta was very prosperous. By the beginning of the 20th century, Augusta had become one of the largest inland cotton markets in the world. In 1913, the Medical College of Georgia was founded, and in 1914, University Hospital was founded nearby. These two buildings would form the nucleus of a future medical complex. A new military cantonment, named Camp Hancock, opened nearby during World War I.
Prior to World War II, the U.S. Army constructed a new fort near Richmond County that was named Camp Gordon. It was finished just a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many new soldiers were brought to this camp to train to go off to war. While they were there, though, the townspeople treated them very nicely, causing many of them to come back to Augusta at the end of the war. But within the few months after WWII, trouble began to set in. Many of the GIs at Camp Gordon had been sent back home, and the importance of the army in the community seemed to almost come to an end. But then Augusta would go through its golden age.
In 1948, new life came to the city when the U.S. Army moved the Signal Training Center and Military Police School to Camp Gordon. Later on, in November of 1948, the Clarks Hill Reservoir was created by a newly constructed dam, which provided the city with a good supply of hydroelectric power. Then, in 1950, plans were announced to build the Savannah River Plant nearby, which would boost the city's population about 50,000. Augusta moved into the second half of the twentieth century on the threshold of becoming an urban industrial center in the South.
Government
Recently, in 1996, the City of Augusta and Richmond County consolidated to form one government - Augusta, GA. The consolidated government consists of a mayor and 10 Augusta-Richmond County commissioners. Eight commissioners represent specific districts, while the other two represent super districts comprised of the other eight. As of 2004, the Augusta-Richmond County government employs around 2,600 people. Some current holders of office are as follows:
- Mayor: Bob Young
- Commissioners
- District 1: Betty Beard
- District 2: Marion F. Williams
- District 3: Barbara Sims
- District 4: Richard Colclough
- District 5: Bobby G. Hankerson
- District 6: Andy Cheek
- District 7: Tommy Boyles
- District 8: Jimmy Smith
- District 9: Williams H. Mays, III
- District 10: Don A. Grantham
- Sheriff: Ronald Strength
- Coroner: Grover Tuten
Metropolitan Area
According to the 2000 Census, the Augusta-Aiken Metropolitan Area had a population of 477,441, making it the 87th largest in the nation and second largest in the State of Georgia. It consists of 5 counties in 2 states.
Sports
- Baseball: Augusta GreenJackets [1] (http://www.greenjackets.net)
- Hockey: Augusta Lynx [2] (http://www.augustalynx.com)
- Arena Football: Augusta Stallions [3] (http://www.augustastallions.com)
Major Attractions
- Augusta Canal
- Augusta Museum of History [4] (http://www.augustamuseum.org)
- Augusta National Golf Club
- Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center [5] (http://augustaciviccenter.com)
- Confederate Powderworks
- Clarks Hill Lake
- Downtown Augusta [6] (http://www.downtownaugusta.com)
- Enterprise Mill
- Fort Discovery [7] (http://www.nscdiscovery.org/FortDiscovery/index.htm)
- Fort Gordon [8] (http://www.gordon.army.mil)
- Georgia Golf Hall of Fame [9] (http://www.gghf.org)
- Lake Olmstead Stadium
- Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History [10] (http://www.lucycraftlaneymuseum.com)
- Morris Museum of Art [11] (http://www.themorris.org)
- Riverwalk Augusta [12] (http://www.augustaga.gov/departments/riverwalk/default.htm)
- William B. Bell Auditorium [13] (http://augustaciviccenter.com/auditorium.html)
- Woodrow Wilson's Boyhood Home [14] (http://www.wilsonboyhoodhome.org)
Miscellaneous
- Augusta is host of The Masters [15] (http://www.masters.org) golf tournament every year, which is part of the Grand Slam in golf.
- Augusta is served by Augusta Regional Airport [16] (http://www.augustaregionalairport.com) and the smaller Daniel Field.
- Augusta's largest newspaper is the Augusta Chronicle [17] (http://www.augustachronicle.com).
- Augusta is home to the Medical College of Georgia [18] (http://www.mcg.edu) and Augusta State University [19] (http://www.aug.edu).
- Augusta's Broad Street is the second widest street in America.
- E-Z-GO and Club Car, the two largest golf cart distributors in the world are centered in Augusta.
- Augusta is home to the Augusta Symphony Orchestra [20] (http://www.augustasymphony.org).
- "Disgusta" is a nickname of Augusta, though not a flattering one. The term is sometimes used by some residents and visitors. Much of the sentiment behind the nickname is inspired by Augusta's several paper mills and meat processing plants, whose strong odor permeate the city on occasion.
- Norfolk Southern and CSX runs down the middle of the street in town (CSX has to serve a industry, so they have trackage rights on NS.)
- The Butt Memorial Bridge was placed in memory of Archibald Butt and is the only memorial to the RMS Titanic in Georgia.
Famous Augustans
- Joseph E.G. Barrett, actor
- James Brown, musician
- Scott Fernstrom, actor
- Laurence Fishburne, actor
- Amy Grant, singer/songwriter (born in Augusta, but grew up in Houston)
- Todd Greene, actor
- Hulk Hogan, professional wrestler
- Charles Anthony Hughes, actor
- Beau Jack, world champion boxer
- Jasper Johns, artist
- Matt Mangum, actor
- Murat McKeown, scholar
- Butterfly McQueen, actress (Prissy in Gone With the Wind)
- Wes Motley, actor
- Jessye Norman, opera singer
- Sir Mildred Pierce, musician
- Faith Prince
- Woodrow Wilson (spent his childhood here) - Former U.S. President
Television
- WJBF Channel 6, ABC affiliate..
- WRDW Channel 12, CBS affiliate.
- WBEK Channel 16, low powered television station carried the UPN network circa 2003.
- WCES Channel 20, PBS affiliate.
- WAGT Channel 26, NBC affiliate.
- WFXG Channel 54, FOX affiliate.
Related topics
External links
- City of Augusta Homepage (http://www.augustaga.gov)
- Augusta.com (http://www.augusta.com)
- Augusta Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau (http://www.augustaga.org)
- The Augusta Chronicle, founded 1785 (http://www.augustachronicle.com)
- The Augusta Focus, minority newspaper owned by former state Sen. Charles Walker (http://www.augustafocus.com)
- Augusta State University (http://www.aug.edu)