Interesting Facts About Augusta

• Interesting facts and trivia can enhance any trip or vacation. Aside from adding nuance to your sightseeing, such tidbits of knowledge bring a touch of flair to the stories you’ll tell people back home.
• Augusta was established in 1736 by General James Edward Oglethorpe.
• Augusta was named after Princess Augusta of Wales.
• Augusta's elite lived along Broad, Greene and Telfair streets. They were known as “Pinch Gut” for the corseted ladies who inhabited the area.
• Augusta was twice the capital of Georgia.
• The Medical College of Georgia was the state’s first medical school.
• In the late 1800s, Augusta staked out a claim as a resort city. Guests included President William H. Taft, John D. Rockefeller, and Harvey Firestone.
• Bobby Jones built the Augusta National Golf Club and hosted its First Invitational Tournament in 1934.
• The great fire of 1916 consumed 25 blocks in downtown Augusta.
• At least 10 Confederate generals were either born in the Augusta area, called it home at one time, or are buried here.
• Two signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried in Augusta.
• The Augusta Chronicle is the South's oldest newspaper.
• The Georgia Republican Party and the Southern Baptist Convention were both started in Augusta.
• Augusta's Springfield Baptist Church is the oldest independently formed African-American congregation still meeting on its original site. It is also where Morehouse College originated.
• St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in 1749, is the third oldest Episcopal Church in Georgia.
• Ty Cobb's baseball career began with the Augusta Tourists in 1904.
• Novelist Frank Yerby was born in Augusta and attended Paine College before leaving for Europe.
• Augusta is the home of the "Godfather of Soul," singer James Brown and the famous Metropolitan Opera star, soprano Jessye Norman.
• It is rumored that George Washington's dog is buried in Augusta.