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, 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 List of [United States cities by population|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 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, 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.
History
Establishment
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.
Development
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.
The city experienced the Augusta Fire of 1916, which damaged 25 blocks of the town and many buildings of historical significance.
As a major city in the area, Augusta was a center of activities during Reconstruction and after. In the mid-20th century, it was a site of civil rights demonstrations. In 1970, Charles Oatman, a mentally disabled teenager, was killed by his cellmates in an Augusta jail. A protest against his death broke out in a riot involving 500 people, after six black men were killed by police, each found to have been shot in the back. The noted singer and entertainer James Brown was called in to help quell lingering tensions, which he succeeded in doing.
Hyde Park contamination
In 1993, an area known as Hyde Park in Augusta, Georgia, was investigated by the EPA for contamination. The investigation totaled $1.2 million. Air, groundwater, and soil were all believed to be contaminated, and people living in the area were hoping for government assistance to move away from Hyde Park. Two of five neighborhoods in Hyde Park appeared to have arsenic, chromium, and dioxin, while all five were found to have PCBs and lead. However, residents were told it was not a risk to their health unless they somehow ingested it on a regular basis. At the time the article was written, the citizens still questioned why the EPA and ATSDR did not consider these chemicals as a threat to them. Hyde Park also has higher rates of certain illnesses than the average in America, and the citizens question why that is not considered.Geography
Augusta is located along the Georgia/South Carolina border, about east of Atlanta and west of Columbia.According to the United States Census Bureau, the Augusta–Richmond County balance has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Augusta is located about halfway up the Savannah River on the fall line, which creates a number of small falls on the river. The city marks the end of a navigable waterway for the river and the entry to the Georgia Piedmont area.
The Clarks Hill Dam is built on the fall line near Augusta, forming Clarks Hill Lake. Farther downstream, near the border of Columbia County, is the Stevens Creek Dam, which generates hydroelectric power. Even farther downstream is the Augusta Diversion Dam, which marks the beginning of the Augusta Canal and channels Savannah River waters into the canal.
Climate
As with the rest of the state, Augusta has a humid subtropical climate, with short, mild winters, very hot, humid summers, and a wide diurnal temperature variation throughout much of the year, despite its low elevation and humidity. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July; there are 53 nights with the low reaching the freezing mark, 82 days reaching or exceeding, and 5.5 days reaching annually. Extreme temperatures range from on January 21, 1985 up to on August 10, 2007, and August 21, 1983. Snowfall is not nearly as common as in Atlanta, due largely to Augusta's elevation, with downtown Augusta being about lower than downtown Atlanta. The heaviest recorded snowfall was in February 1973 with Freezing rain is also a threat in wintertime.Demographics
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | % 2000 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 85,340 | 73,277 | 65,721 | 43.72% | 37.42% | 32.52% |
| Black or African American alone | 97,517 | 105,921 | 111,535 | 49.96% | 54.08% | 55.19% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 491 | 557 | 480 | 0.25% | 0.28% | 0.24% |
| Asian alone | 2,925 | 3,259 | 3,898 | 1.50% | 1.66% | 1.93% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone | 222 | 370 | 386 | 0.11% | 0.19% | 0.19% |
| Race and ethnicity in [the United States census|Other race] alone | 359 | 305 | 880 | 0.18% | 0.16% | 0.44% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | 2,881 | 4,102 | 7,910 | 1.48% | 2.09% | 3.91% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 5,447 | 8,053 | 11,271 | 2.79% | 4.11% | 5.58% |
| Total | 195,182 | 195,844 | 202,081 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
At the 2020 United States census, there were 202,081 people, 66,838 households, and 41,517 families residing in the city. During the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 195,844, up from 195,182 at the 2000 United States census.
In 2000, the city's racial and ethnic composition was 43.72% non-Hispanic white, 49.96% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.18% some other race, 1.48% multiracial, and 2.79% Hispanic or Latino of any race. By the 2020 census, its racial and ethnic makeup was 35.52% non-Hispanic white, 55.19% African American, 0.24% Asian, 1.93% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 0.44% some other race, 3.91% multiracial, and 5.58% Hispanic or Latino of any race. This reflected nationwide trends of greater diversification since the beginning of the 21st century.
Economy
Augusta is a regional center of medicine, biotechnology, and cyber security. Augusta University, the state's only public health sciences graduate university, employs over 7,000 people. Along with Piedmont Augusta, the Medical District of Augusta employs over 25,000 people and has an economic impact of over $1.8 billion.The city's three largest employers are Augusta University, the Savannah River Site and the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, which oversees training for Cyber, Signal Corps, and Electronic Warfare.
With the establishment of the Georgia Cyber Center in Downtown Augusta, the Augusta metro region has become a hub for cyber security based companies looking to locate to the area in part as well to the establishment of the U.S. Army Cyber Command relocating to Fort Gordon from Fort Meade. Augusta plays host to TechNet on a yearly basis which brings in various military, government, and private sector leaders to the area to showcase new cyber related products as well as discussions on cyber based collaboration efforts between the public and private sectors.
As of February 2025, the metro area unemployment rate is 4.5%, slightly above the national average.
Companies that have facilities, headquarters or distribution centers in the Augusta metro area include CareSouth, NutraSweet, T-Mobile, Covidien, Solo Cup Company, Automatic Data Processing, Clearwater Paper, Solvay S.A., Bridgestone, Teleperformance, Olin Corporation, Sitel, E-Z-GO, Taxslayer, Elanco, KSB Company, Club Car, Halocarbon, MTU Friedrichshafen, Kimberly Clark Corporation, Nutrien, John Deere, Kellogg's and Delta Air Lines' baggage call center.
Top employers
According to the Augusta Economic Development Authority as of 2013, the top manufacturing employers in the city were:| # | Employer | # of employees |
| 1 | Textron Specialized Vehicles | 1,350 |
| 2 | Graphic Packaging International | 963 |
| 3 | Ferrara USA | 900 |
| 4 | FPL Food | 660 |
| 5 | Thermal Ceramics | 400 |
| 6 | Cardinal Health | 390 |
| 7 | Nutrien | 390 |
| 8 | Augusta Coca-Cola | 300 |
| 9 | Solvay Advanced Partners | 300 |
| 10 | Starbucks | 260 |
The top public sector employers were:
| # | Employer | # of employees |
| 1 | Fort Gordon | 29,252 |
| 2 | Augusta University | 6,775 |
| 3 | NSA Georgia | 6,000 |
| 4 | Augusta University Health System | 5,341 |
| 5 | Richmond County School System | 4,418 |
| 6 | Piedmont Augusta | 3,000 |
| 7 | Augusta–Richmond County | 2,840 |
| 8 | Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center | 2,082 |
| 9 | Doctors Hospital | 1,837 |
| 10 | East Central Regional Hospital | 1,400 |
Arts and culture
Historic districts
There are 10 historic districts throughout the city of Augusta. The most prominent, Augusta Downtown Historic District, encompasses most of downtown Augusta and its pre-Civil War area. The Augusta Downtown Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.Augusta also includes the:
- Bethlehem Historic District
- Broad Street Historic District
- Greene Street Historic District
- Harrisburg–West End Historic District
- Laney–Walker North Historic District
- Paine College Historic District
- Pinched Gut Historic District
- Sand Hills Historic District
- Summerville Historic District
Tallest buildings
The tallest buildings in Augusta include the Lamar Building, River Place Condominiums, and Augusta University Building.Sports
Teams
Current
The Augusta GreenJackets minor league baseball club, formerly located at Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta, now play at SRP Park along the Savannah River in North Augusta, South Carolina. The team began to play in 1988 as the Augusta Pirates, affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Later affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants, the GreenJackets are now the Class A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.The Rugby Football Club">rugby football">Rugby Football Club is a division 2 men's club competing in the Palmetto Rugby Union, part of the USA Rugby South Conference.
Augusta has an all-female flat track roller derby team, the Soul City Sirens. Founded in 2008, this league is all-volunteer, and skater owned.
Former
The Augusta Lynx were a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Augusta, Georgia. The Lynx played their home games at the James Brown Arena from 1998 until 2008. The Lynx, who played in the ECHL, had affiliations with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL and the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL.The Augusta RiverHawks were a professional minor league ice hockey team. They played in the Southern [Professional Hockey League (SPHL)] from 2010 to 2013. They played their home games at the James Brown Arena.
The Augusta Stallions were a professional Arena football team founded in 1999. They were one of the 15 original teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference, before switching to the Southeast Division in 2001, and then the Eastern Division in 2002. The team folded in 2002.
Augusta was also home to the former Augusta 706ers, a minor league professional basketball team in the American [Basketball Association (2000–present)|American Basketball Association]. The team was founded in 2017 and stopped operations in December 2018 because of a lack of funds. The team played all home games at the James Brown Arena.
Tournaments
Augusta National Golf Club hosts the first major golf tournament of each year, The Masters.The Augusta Top Gun Series is a series of tournaments sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association, held at various venues in Augusta, including Pendleton King Park and Lake Olmstead.
Augusta hosted the Augusta Southern Nationals drag boat Race for 30 consecutive years. Held on the Savannah River until 2016, the race was part of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series.
Augusta hosts one of the largest Ironman 70.3 competitions, which includes cycling around Augusta, running through Downtown Augusta, and swimming on the Savannah River.
Parks and recreation
- Riverwalk Augusta – riverfront park along and on top of the city's levee
- Augusta Canal – historic canal with bike/pedestrian path
- Phinizy Swamp Nature Park – wetlands park with pedestrian/bike paths and boardwalks
Government
In 1995, citizens of Augusta and unincorporated parts of Richmond County voted to consolidate their city and county governments. Citizens of Hephzibah and Blythe, also located in Richmond County, voted against joining in the merger, which took effect January 1, 1996. The unified government consists of a mayor and ten commissioners. Eight commissioners represent single-member districts, while two are elected at-large, each to represent a super district that encompasses half of Augusta-Richmond's population. A May 2024 referendum, giving the mayor full voting powers on the Augusta Commission, was approved by Augusta voters by 74%, with the mayor previously being allowed to vote only in the case of a tie on the commission. The government is a Council–manager government, with the commission appointing a County Administrator to carry out ordinances and directives of the government.| Year | Democrat | Republican | Other |
| 2024 | 67.79% | 31.67% | 0.53% |
| 2020 | 67.89% | 30.75% | 1.36% |
| 2016 | 65.00% | 32.60% | 1.40% |
| 2012 | 66.39% | 32.64% | 0.97% |
| 2008 | 65.60% | 33.80% | 0.60% |
| 2004 | 56.60% | 42.90% | 0.50% |
| 2000 | 54.77% | 44.43% | 0.80% |
| 1996 | 54.05% | 41.62% | 4.33% |
Education
Colleges and universities
Main campuses
Satellite campuses
- East Georgia State College, main campus located in Swainsboro
- Georgia Military College, main campus located in Milledgeville
- Brenau University, main campus located in Gainesville, Georgia
K–12 schools
Public K–12 schools in Augusta are managed by the Richmond County School System, which covers all of Richmond County. The school system contains 36 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, and the following eight high schools: Glenn Hills, Butler, Westside, Hephzibah, T. W. Josey, A.R.C. (Academy of Richmond County), Lucy Craft Laney, and Cross Creek. There are four magnet schools: C. T. Walker Traditional Magnet School, A. R. Johnson Health [Science and Engineering Magnet High School], Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School|Davidson Fine Arts], and the Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School.Private schools in Augusta include Aquinas High School, Curtis Baptist High School, and Westminster Schools of Augusta.
Media
The daily newspaper in the city is The Augusta Chronicle. Television stations serving Augusta and its metropolitan market are WJBF, channel 6 ; WRDW, channel 12, ; WCES, channel 20 ; WAGT, channel 26 ; and WFXG, channel 54. Augusta's large medical community and patient population is served by the Medical Examiner, a twice-monthly newspaper published since 2006.Infrastructure
Transportation
Major roads and expressways
- in southern Richmond County
Airports
The city has two airports: Augusta Regional Airport and Daniel Field. Augusta Regional Airport is served by two passenger airlines, including Delta Connection, which offers service to Atlanta, and American Eagle, which offers service to Charlotte, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Washington D.C.Rail
Until the 1960s, the city's Augusta Union Station was a passenger rail hub, with trains arriving from the Atlantic Coast Line, Georgia Railroad and Southern Railway. The last Seaboard Coast Line train was a Florence-Augusta section of the Champion; this section ended in 1970. The last train to the city was the unnamed daily in-state Georgia Railroad train between Atlanta and Augusta. This latter train, unofficially called the Georgia Cannonball, ran as a mixed train, until May 6, 1983. Most trains went to the Union Station at Barrett Square. The Southern Railway trains went to the Southern Railway depot at Fifth and Reynolds Street. Today, freight service is handled by Norfolk Southern Railway's Georgia Division and Piedmont Division through their Augusta Yard and Nixon Yard located near the city. Norfolk Southern Trains such as the NS 191 and 192 pass through Augusta's downtown as they "street run" at down 6th street. They also cross the old Trestle over the Savannah River entering and leaving South Carolina. CSX Transportation Atlanta Division and Florence Division Trains also serve the Augusta, Georgia, area from the CSX Augusta Yard near Gordon Highway southwest of the city.Pedestrians and cycling
Law enforcement
Law enforcement in Augusta is handled by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.Sister cities
Augusta is twinned with:- Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
- Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Japan