AUGUSTA. A city, and the county-seat of Riehmond County, Ga., on the Savannah River, at the head of navigation. 231 miles from its mouth : latitude 33' 28' north, longitude SI° 54' west ; 132 miles by rail northwest Savannah; on several railroads, among them the Central of Georgia, the Charleston and West Carolina, the Georgia, the South Carolina and Geor gia. and the Southern (Map: Georgia, E 2). The Augusta Canal. 9 miles long and 150 feet wide, starting above the city from a dam, furnishes the water supply, which is under municipal operation, and 14,0(al horse - power for manufactures. Augusta is 150 feet above the sea, has a climate like that of Aiken, S. C., only 17 miles distant, somewhat cooler than Savannah, and an even and dry air. It is an increasingly popular health resort. The city is finely laid out, with broad, beautifully shaded streets, intersecting at right angles. There are several parks,—one of them, May Park, containing acres,—besides 25 squares, and outside the city are the cemetery and fair grounds, attraetively laid out. Summerville, on the Sand Hills, overlooking the city, and 400 feet above sea-level, is a suburb of handsome villas and cottages, and a well-known health resort. Augusta has a publie library of 10,000 volumes: two handsome monuments—one erected in 1549 to the Georgia signers of the Declara tion of independence, the other to the Con federate soldiers: a Masonic Temple, Odd Fel lows' Hall, and Cotton Exchange, besides ninny other notable private and public buildings. The chief educational institutions are the Georgia Medical College, a branch of the State University at Athens, Richmond Academy, Saint Mary's and Sacred Heart academies, Paine's Institute for Colored Students, and high schools for white and colored pupils. Among charitable institu tions are the (trphan Asylum, Louise King Dome, and hospitals for white and- colored pa tients.
Augusta is one of the largest cotton markets in the South. and has important manufactures of cotton goods; iron foundries, sash, door, and blind factories, and other wood-working indus tries. Its lumber trade, and shipping of fruits and vegetables are extensive.
Under the charter of 1798, as revised in 1SS2, Augusta is governed by a mayor, elected for 3 years, and a city council, composed of the mayor and 15 councilmen, 3 from each ward, for a term of 3 years, one-third being elected each year. The mayor appoints the superintendents of canal and water-works, and of streets and drains; other offices, excepting the board of education, which is elected by the people, are in the hands of the council. Population, in IS60, l2,493; in I SSO, 21,891; in 1890, 33,300; in 1900, 39,441. Founded under a charter by Oglethorpe in 1730, and named in honor of an English princess, Augusta was in its early years the most important trading station and one of the most important military posts in Georgia. Many notable conferences were held here with the Cherokees, Creeks, and Choctaws, large tracts of territory being see:tired at those of 1763 and 1773. Late in January, 1779, it was captured by the British and held for a month. In May, 1780. it was again captured, and was occupied by British and Loyalists until June 5, 1781, when, after a protracted siege, it was surren dered to Gen. Andrew Pickens and Col. Henry Lee. In 1778 it served as the capital, and though the legislature was frequently forced to meet elsewhere, it continued to he the nominal seat of government until 1798. It was incor porated as a town in 1798, and in 1517 was chartered as a city. Consult Jones and Dutcher, cinorial History of Augusta (Syracuse, N. Y., 1890).