Serving the Greater Augusta, Georgia area 

Members of the East Central Georgia Regional Library

Augusta is Georgia's second oldest city and was founded in 1736 along the banks of the Savannah River as an Indian trading post by Georgia's founder, General James Edward Oglethorpe. The city was named in honor of the new bride of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales and son of George II, King of England.

Augusta served as a colonial military outpost, the center of Georgia's eighteenth century tobacco trade, and a Revolutionary War battle site. Former twice Georgia Governor and the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence George Walton predicted that Augusta would become "the mart of the whole country above it" when the war was over. He was right. The town tripled in size. Great things were done here. The Constitution of the United States was ratified and a new constitution for Georgia was drawn up here. Augusta was the capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795.

Augusta also became a winter resort in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Large hotels, such as the Partridge Inn and the Bon Air, attracted wealthy northern visitors like John D. Rockefeller for extended stays on the "Hill", also known as Summerville. Golf Architect Bobby Jones played his best golf at several courses on the "Hill." He liked the climate and scenery so much, he built his dream course on the Berckmans Nursery tract, today known as the famous Augusta National Golf Club. In 1934, his Masters Tournament began.

Augusta is located along the Georgia-South Carolina border, formed by the Savannah River. The area lies about halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. The city of Augusta lies within Richmond County, and the two were consolidated in 1996 to form one government. The metropolitan area spills over into Columbia County, which lies upriver to the northwest. Across the river is Aiken County, South Carolina. North Augusta, SC is just across the river via several bridges. The City of Aiken is about 12 miles away. Several other Georgia and South Carolina counties combine with Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken Counties to form the Central Savannah River Area, commonly referred to as the CSRA.

The CSRA is rich in industry. It is the home of EZ GO and Club Car, the two largest makers of golf carts in the world. Kimberly Clark, Amoco, Sweetheart Cups, Proctor & Gamble, Federal Paperboard, Columbia Nitrogen, and other major manufacturers have facilities here. Graniteville Company, part of Avondale Mills, is one of the worlds largest suppliers of denim and other heavy fabics.  Bridgestone/Firestone has just built the world's most technologically advanced tire factory in Graniteville, and will soon be producing over 20,000 tires per day.  And of course, the Savannah River Site, located in Aiken and Barnwell Counties, is a major Department of Energy facility.

Augusta is...

• Second largest city in Georgia

• Second oldest city in Georgia

• Home of the Masters Golf Tournament

• Home of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown

• Birthplace of singers Amy Grant, Jessye Norman and Terri Gibbs; actors Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover and Joe Penny; Boxer Ray Mercer, Novelist Frank Yerby, WWF Wrestler Hulk Hogan, and pro golfer Larry Mize

• Second largest inland cotton market in the world during the cotton boom

• Home of the oldest newspaper in the South, The Augusta Chronicle

• Home of poets Richard Henry Wilde and James Ryder Randall

• Home of George Walton, the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence

• Home of Springfield Baptist Church, the oldest independently formed black congregation in the United States with an unbroken recond of existence

• Headquarters of E-Z-GO Textron and Club Car, the number one and two manufacturers of golf carts

• Home of Jones Creek, the number one rated public golf course in Georgia

• Home of the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River, Thurmond Lake

• Home of the last standing permanent structure built by the confederacy, the Confederate Powderworks Factory Chimney

• Home of the world's richest dragboat race, the Hardee's Augusta Southern Nationals

• Headquarters of the National Barrel Horse Association

• Location of baseball player Ty Cobb's first professional game and his home from 1904 to 1932.