AUGUSTA, Ga., the third city of the State in population and wealth. It is the capital of Richmond County, and at the head of naviga don on the Savannah River, 231 miles by water above its mouth. It is 132 miles by rail from Savannah, 171 miles east of Atlanta and 137 miles northwest of Charleston. There is an electric line to Aiken, which eventually is to be extended to Columbia. Two foot bridges and two railroad bridges span the river, which is about 300 yards wide. It lies about 150 feet above sea-level, has an even temperature and dry, invigorating atmosphere very different from most riverside cities, being indeed a well known health resort for pulmonary invalids, particularly its suburb Summerville, on the Sand Hills 400 feet above it. It is laid out in broad rectangular streets, many of them beautifully shaded, and with a good electric car service; and has several parks, of which the chief are May Park of about 11 acres and Allen Park of 19 acres. The courthouse is in a park containing a granite monument to the Georgia signers of the Declaration of In dependence; while on Broad street, the prin cipal thoroughfare of the city, is a noble mon ument to the Confederate dead with marble statues of Generals Lee, Jackson, Walker and Cobb, and crowned with one of a private sol dier, heroic size. The cemetery and fair grounds are also suburban attractions.
Manufactures.— The power is chiefly de rived from a dam across the river seven miles above the city (enlarged from a smaller one in 1875, at a cost of about $1,000,000), 150 feet wide at top, 106 at bottom and 11 feet deep; turning a part of the river into a canal afford ing 14,000 horse-power, sold to industries at $5.50 per horse-power per annum, with a work ing day of 16 hours. Also 31,000 additional horse-power is derived from an electric power plant recently completed costing $2,250,000. To protect the city from overflows from the river a levee was built in 1915, upon which about $3,000,000 was expended. A barge line has been established for the carriage of freight by the river, thus giving an all-water route to and from Eastern markets, together with the lowest freight rate. Augusta is one of the chief scats of cotton manufacture in the South. Eli Whitney's cotton gin was invented on a farm on the outskirts, and the first working gin was set up in the city. There are 13 cotton mills with offices in the city, having a capital of nearly $6,000,000, operating 329,740 spindles, and 19,360 looms and employing some 8,000 hands. Of over $10,000,000 capital invested in Georgia cotton manufacturing, fully a third is in Augusta. There are also six large cotton seed oil mills and a bleachery. Of other manufactures, the chief are of lumber and wood products, bricks and tile drain pipe from i the fine clays in the vicinity, flour, and iron goods. There are 371 manufacturing estab lishments, with $11,066,000 capital and 5,073 employees, paying $2,153,000 for wages and $6,602,000 for materials, and having a total output valued at $10,456,000. The increase within the past few years, however, has been very large; and it is proposed to utilize the river still more for electric power, the present manufactories practically exhausting the direct water power. The river at Augusta is from five
to•seven feet deep the year round, and fair-sized passenger and freight steamers make semi weekly trips to Savannah. Augusta is the largest inland cotton market in the South; and it has also a large shipping trade in lumber, fruit and vegetables. Its annual trade exceeds $80,000,000, its cotton receipts amounting to 550,000 bales. The water supply is derived from the Savannah River and is unlimited. The city abounds in educational and charitable institutions. Most notable among the former is the Georgia Medical College, a branch of the State University at Athens; there are also Richmond Academy, which has recently been put under the care of the State University, Saint .Mary's and Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic) academies, Paine's Institute for Colored Students, and high schools for white and colored youth. There are two public li braries, an orphan asylum, two public hospitals (white and colored), a juvenile reformatory, and the Louise King Home. A United States arsenal, a Masonic temple, an Odd Fellows' hall, a Chamber of Commerce and a cotton exchange are also prominent buildings. The city has three daily and several weekly news papers. The assessed property valuation ex ceeds $26,000,000, and the bonded debt is about $2,000;000. There are two national and several State banks of which the total capital surplus and undivided profits aggregate about $5,000, 000; total deposits about $10,000,000. Augusta is on the line of many railroads, among them the Central of Georgia, the Charleston & West Carolina, the South Carolina & Georgia, the Southern, etc. Its original charter was ob tained in 1798, and revised 1882; the mayor is elected for three years, and a city council, consisting of 18 members, is also elected for three years, one-third elected each year. The board of education is elected by the people. All other offices are appointive by the council, save that the mayor appoints the super intendent of canal and waterworks, and of streets and drains Population (1910) 37,826. It suffers in the census from having suburbs, North Au gusta, across the river in South Carolina; Summerville, and others not counted in; and claims about 60,000 at present.
History.—Augusta was founded in 1736 by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe (q.v.), the founder of Georgia, and named after the Prin cess Augusta of Saxony, who married Freder ick, Prince of Wales, in that year, and became the mother of George III. All through its early period it was the chief trading station in Georgia, and a very important military post; especially notable as the scat of conferences and treaties with the Southern Indians, who tinder the treaties of 1763 and 1773 ceded large tracts of land to the whites; the latter, how ever, had to occupy much of it at the same risk of Indian warfare as before. In 1778 it was made the State capital, and remained such till 1798. The building of the Georgia Railroad in the middle of the 19th century was a heavy blow to its prosperity for a time, carrying trade over new routes; but its natural advan tages enabled it to recover itself.
The Southern Confederacy's powder works were located at Augusta, and their tall chim ney still stands to mark the site.