Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
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2239832

Augusta, Georgia

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2239832

Augusta, Georgia

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Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Richmond County. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third most populous city in Georgia (following Columbus), is situated in the Fall Line region of the state.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Augusta had a 2020 population of 202,081, not counting the independent cities of Blythe and Hephzibah located within the boundaries of Augusta-Richmond County. It is the 124th most populous city in the United States and the 92nd-largest metropolitan area. The process of consolidation between the city of Augusta and Richmond County began with a 1995 referendum in the two jurisdictions. The merger was completed on July 1, 1996, but it excluded the municipalities of Blythe and Hephzibah. Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta metropolitan area. In 2020 the metro area had a population of 611,000, making it the second-largest in the state (after Atlanta) and the ninth most populous urban center in the Deep South.

Augusta was established in 1736 and is named in honor of Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719–1772), the bride of Frederick, Prince of Wales and the mother of the British monarch George III. During the American Civil War, Augusta housed the principal Confederate Powderworks. Augusta's warm climate made it a major resort town of the Eastern United States in the early and mid-20th century. Internationally, Augusta is best known for hosting the Masters golf tournament each spring. The Masters brings over 200,000 visitors from around the world to the Augusta National Golf Club.

Augusta lies approximately two hours away from downtown Atlanta by car via I-20. The city is home to Fort Gordon, a major U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Eisenhower. In 2016, it was announced that the new National Cyber Security Headquarters would be based in Augusta.

In 1735, two years after James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, he sent a detachment of troops to explore the upper Savannah River. He gave them an order to build a fort at the head of the navigable part of the river. The expedition was led by Noble Jones, who the following year created a settlement as a first line of defense for coastal areas against potential Spanish or French invasion from the interior. Oglethorpe named the town in honor of Princess Augusta, the mother of King George III and the wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Oglethorpe visited Augusta in September 1739 on his return to Savannah from a perilous visit to Coweta Town, near present-day Phenix City, Alabama. There, he had met with a convention of 7,000 Native American warriors and concluded a peace treaty with them in their territories in northern and western Georgia. During the American Revolutionary War, the Siege of Augusta resulted in the retaking the city from the British by the Americans. Augusta was the second state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795 (alternating for a period with Savannah, the first).

Augusta developed rapidly as a market town as the Black Belt in the Piedmont was developed for cotton cultivation. Invention of the cotton gin made processing of short-staple cotton profitable, and this type of cotton was well-suited to the upland areas. Cotton plantations were worked by slave labor, with hundreds of thousands of slaves shipped from the Upper South to the Deep South in the domestic slave trade. Many of the slaves were brought from the Lowcountry, where their Gullah culture had developed on the large Sea Island cotton and rice plantations.

During the American Civil War, Augusta was home to many war industries including powder-works facilities. After the war, Augusta had a booming textile industry leading to the construction of many mills along the Augusta Canal to include Enterprise Mill, Sibley Mill, and King Mill.

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