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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", in The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1994), p. 56. 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.
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. Memorial History of Augusta, Georgia: from Its Settlement in 1735 to the Close of the Eighteenth Century by Charles Colcock Jones, Salem Dutcher (Augusta, GA: D. Mason, 1890) page 31 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).
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."Baltimore is Everywhere," New York Magazine, May 18–31, 2015, p. 33. The noted singer and entertainer James Brown was called in to help quell lingering tensions, which he succeeded in doing.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Augusta–Richmond County balance has a total area of , of which is land and (1.42%) 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. "Officials consider relicensing Augusta Canal" , Augusta Chronicle, June 29, 2003
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.
The city's three largest employers are Augusta University, the Savannah River Site (a Department of Energy nuclear facility) 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 US, Covidien, Solo Cup Company, Automatic Data Processing, Clearwater Paper, Solvay S.A., Bridgestone, Teleperformance, Olin Corporation, Sitel, E-Z-GO, Taxslayer, Elanco, KSB Company (Georgia Iron Works), Club Car (Worldwide Headquarters), Halocarbon, MTU Friedrichshafen (subsidiary of Tognum), Kimberly Clark Corporation, Nutrien (formerly PotashCorp), John Deere, Kellogg's and Delta Air Lines' baggage call center.
The top public sector employers were:
Augusta also includes the:
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.
The Augusta Rugby Football Club (ARFC) is a division 2 men's club competing in the Palmetto Rugby Union, 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. Fans Vote Augusta River Hawks As Hockey Team's Name . Thesphl.com (March 13, 2010). Retrieved on August 9, 2013.
Augusta is also home to the former Augusta 706ers, a minor league professional basketball team in the 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.
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 Disc Golf Augusta Disc Golf Association
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.
Private schools in Augusta include Aquinas High School, Curtis Baptist High School, and Westminster Schools of Augusta.
Parts of Augusta are served by city transit service Augusta Public Transit (APT), but the main mode of transportation within the city is by car. Augusta is also served by a number of taxi companies.
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 (Agency for Toxic Disease Registry) did not consider these chemicals as a threat to them. Hyde Park also has higher rates of certain illnesses (such as cancer, infections, rashes) 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.
Climate
As with the rest of the state, Augusta has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), 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
+ Augusta Richmond consolidated government (balance), Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
!Race / Ethnicity ( NH = Non-Hispanic)
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!White alone (NH) 85,340 73,277 32.52% Black or African American alone (NH) 97,517 105,921 55.19% Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 491 557 0.24% Asian Americans alone (NH) 2,925 3,259 1.93% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) 222 370 0.19% Other race alone (NH) 359 305 0.44% Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 2,881 4,102 3.91% Hispanic or Latino (any race) 5,447 8,053 5.58% Total 195,182 195,844 100.00%
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. HOME augustaTomorrow.com
Top employers
According to the Augusta Economic Development Authority as of 2013, City of Augusta Largest Employers Retrieved November 14, 2013 the top manufacturing employers in the city were:
1 Textron 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 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.
Tallest buildings
The tallest buildings in Augusta include the Lamar Building, River Place Condominiums, and Augusta University Building.
Sports
Teams
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.
Augusta GreenJackets Baseball Carolina League SRP Park Augusta Mad Dogs rugby football Palmetto Rugby Union Larry Bray Memorial Pitch Augusta Furies Rugby union Carolinas Geographic Union Larry Bray Memorial Pitch Soul City Sirens Roller derby WFTDA Red Wing Rollerway Georgia Soul Basketball Women's American Basketball Association Butler High School Gymnasium Georgia Soul Basketball The Basketball League Paine College
Tournaments
Augusta National Golf Club hosts the first major golf tournament of each year, The Masters. Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals: None say 'class' like the Masters . Worldgolf.com (February 25, 2008). Retrieved on August 9, 2013.
Parks and recreation
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 . 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.
Education
Colleges and universities
Main campuses
Satellite campuses
K–12 schools
K–12 schools in Augusta are managed by the Richmond County School System, which covers all of Richmond County. - Text list 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 : C. T. Walker Traditional Magnet School, A. R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School, Davidson Fine Arts, and the Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School.
Media
The daily newspaper in the city is The Augusta Chronicle. Television stations serving Augusta and its metropolitan market are WJBF, channel 6 (ABC, with The CW Plus on DT2); WRDW-TV, channel 12, (CBS); WCES, channel 20 (PBS); WAGT-CD, channel 26 (NBC); and WFXG, channel 54 (Fox). Augusta's large medical community and patient population is served by the Medical Examiner (www.AugustaRx.com), a twice-monthly newspaper published since 2006.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Major roads and expressways
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 (as spur sections from Florence, South Carolina, from trains such as the Champion, Everglades and Palmetto), Georgia Railroad and Southern Railway (for example, the Aiken-Augusta Special from New York City). The last Seaboard Coast Line (the successor to the Atlantic Coast Line) train was a Florence-Augusta section of the Champion; this section ended in 1970.Seaboard Coast Line timetable, April 26, 1970, Table 3Seaboard Coast Line timetable, December 1, 1970, Table 4 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.
Notable people
Sister cities
Augusta is Sister city with:
See also
Notes
Further reading
External links
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