The city of Augusta, Georgia , the largest city and the county seat of Richmond County, Georgia, is the birthplace and home of several notable individuals. This is a list of people from Augusta, Georgia and includes people who were born or lived in Augusta for a nontrivial amount of time. Individuals included in this listing are people presumed to be notable because they have received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject.
Augusta was first used by Native Americans as a place to cross the Savannah River, because of Augusta's location on the fall line. The city was the second state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795 (alternating for a period with Savannah, the first).
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Quinton Aaron | Actor (Michael Oher in The Blind Side ) | ||
Laurence Fishburne | Actor (Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy) | ||
Hulk Hogan | Actor, professional wrestler; born in Augusta, raised in Tampa, Florida | ||
Kathryn McCormick | Step Up Revolution actress, So You Think You Can Dance contestant/All-Star | ||
Butterfly McQueen | Actress (Prissy in Gone with the Wind ) | ||
Danielle Panabaker | Actress | ||
Khary Payton | Actor (Cyborg in Teen Titans , appeared in General Hospital ) | [1] | |
Faith Prince | Actor | ||
Shay Roundtree | Actor (Drumline, Law and Order, Everybody Hates Chris, Kingpin) | ||
Catherine Taber | Actress | ||
Dub Taylor | Character actor |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Joseph Haygood Blodgett | Architect and builder | [2] | |
Jasper Johns | Artist | ||
Amos Mac | Photographer | ||
Jessye Norman | Opera singer | ||
Mary Telfair | Art collector, philanthropist |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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William Avery | Professional basketball player | ||
Kendrell Bell | Professional football player in the NFL | ||
Mike Bobo | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Georgia Bulldogs | ||
Emerson Boozer | Former running back for New York Jets | ||
Bennie Briscoe | Professional boxer | ||
William "Happy Humphrey" Cobb | Professional wrestler | ||
Luis Campusano | Catcher for the San Diego Padres | ||
William Cunningham | Professional basketball player | ||
Chick Donovan | Professional wrestler; born in LaGrange, grew up in Augusta | ||
Charles "Chuck" Evans | NFL player for the Baltimore Ravens | ||
Vernon Forrest | World champion boxer | ||
Bill Fulcher | Coach and NFL player | ||
Deon Grant | NFL player (New York Giants) | ||
Todd Greene | Baseball player | ||
Forrest Griffin | Mixed martial artist | ||
Ray Guy | Retired NFL player | ||
Arnold Harrison | Football player, currently with UFL's Virginia Destroyers | ||
Charles Howell III | Professional golfer | ||
Leroy Irvin | Professional football player | ||
Beau Jack | World champion boxer | ||
Jimmie Johnson | NFL player, tight ends coach for the Minnesota Vikings | ||
Bobby Jones | Most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level; founder and designer of Augusta National Golf Club and co-founder of the Masters Tournament | ||
Bailie Key | Gymnast, Junior U.S. National Champion 2013 | ||
Macay McBride | MLB player for Detroit Tigers | ||
Taj McWilliams-Franklin | WNBA player (Minnesota Lynx) | ||
Larry Mize | Professional golfer; winner of the 1987 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club | ||
Chad Mottola | MLB player for Cincinnati Reds | ||
Chase Parker | Golfer on mini-tours, made cut at 2016 U.S. Open | ||
Kyle Parker | Quarterback for Clemson University | ||
Carlos Rogers | Professional football player for San Francisco 49ers | ||
Jeff Sanders | Professional basketball player | ||
Vaughn Taylor | Professional golfer; member of the United States team in the 2006 Ryder Cup | ||
Herschel Walker | Professional football player; won the Heisman Trophy in 1982 and played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons | ||
Ken Whisenhunt | Head coach of Arizona Cardinals | ||
Rayonta Whitfield | Professional boxer, former world title challenger | ||
Jonathan Williams | Professional football player in CFL | ||
Paul Williams | Professional boxer, former WBO welterweight world champion | ||
Devonte Upson | Basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League | ||
James Webb III | Basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League | ||
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Ignatius Alphonso Few | Methodist clergyman, founder of Emory University | [3] | |
John Wesley Gilbert | African American trailblazer, archaeologist, clergyman | [4] | |
John Hope | Educator, founding member of the Niagara Movement | ||
Isaac S. Hopkins | Former professor and first President of Georgia Tech | ||
David M. Potter | Pulitzer Prize-winning professor at Stanford University | ||
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Rod Beaton | Sports journalist for USA Today | [5] | |
Stephen Vincent Benét | Writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet | [6] | |
Maria Louise Eve | Poet | ||
Elle and Blair Fowler | YouTube beauty gurus and writers | ||
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet | Lawyer, Methodist clergyman, and humorist | [3] | |
Tom Poland | Author | ||
Abram Joseph Ryan | Poet | ||
Corbett Thigpen | Psychiatrist; co-author of the internationally popular nonfiction book The Three Faces of Eve | [6] | |
Frank Yerby | Novelist |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Lucy Craft Laney | Opened the first school for black children in Augusta; namesake of Lucy Craft Laney High School and the Lucy Laney Black History Museum | ||
Ed McIntyre | First African American mayor of Augusta |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Raymond O. Barton | Major general, US 4th Infantry Division commander on D-Day and Battle of the Hurtgen Forest | ||
Archibald Butt | Military aide to U.S. Presidents Roosevelt and Taft; died on the RMS Titanic; namesake of the Butt Memorial Bridge | ||
William P. Duvall | U.S. Army major general; retired to Augusta | [7] | |
Aquilla James "Jimmie" Dyess | USMC lieutenant colonel, posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor during World War II; one of only nine known Eagle Scouts to receive the Medal of Honor; the only American to receive both the Carnegie Medal for civilian heroism and the Medal of Honor | ||
Lafayette McLaws | Major general of the Confederate Army, American Civil War | [3] | |
Montgomery C. Meigs | Quartermaster General of United States Army during the American Civil War | [3] | |
Edwin A. Pollock | General, United States Marines | ||
George D. Shea | Major general, United States Army | [8] [9] [10] [11] | |
Joseph Wheeler | United States Army general in the Spanish–American War | ||
James Longstreet | Confederate general of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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James Brown | Soul musician, bandleader, songwriter, dancer, and record producer who was a major figure of 20th century music, often referred to as the "Godfather of Soul", [12] and, in his over 50-year career, influenced the development of several music genres; [13] namesake of James Brown Blvd. and the James Brown Arena | [6] | |
Anna Gardner Goodwin | Composer of marches and religious music, born in Augusta | ||
Terri Gibbs | Country and western singer | ||
Wycliffe Gordon | Jazz trombonist | ||
Amy Grant | Singer-songwriter; born in Augusta; her family soon moved to Nashville, Tennessee | [14] | |
Ben Hayslip | Country music songwriter; Grammy-nominated; two-time ASCAP Songwriter of the Year; winner of four Triple Play Awards for three number one songs in a 12-month span | ||
Dave Haywood | Singer-songwriter; member of popular band Lady A | ||
Sharon Jones | Singer | ||
Charles Kelley | Singer-songwriter; member of popular band Lady A | ||
Josh Kelley | Musician | ||
Steve Morse | Guitarist | ||
Jessye Norman | Opera singer; namesake of Riverwalk Augusta's Jessye Norman Amphitheatre | [6] | |
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Ben S. Bernanke | Federal Reserve chairman | ||
Darrell Blocker | CIA agent, nicknamed "The Spy Whisperer" | [15] | |
Alfred Cumming | First governor of Utah territory | [3] | |
William Henry Fleming | Politician and lawyer | ||
James Myles Hinton | Civil rights leader, NAACP leader, businessperson, minister | ||
Craig T. James | Politician | ||
Seaborn Jones | United States Congressman from Georgia | [3] | |
George Walton | Signer of the United States Declaration of Independence | ||
Ansley Wilcox | Lawyer and civil service commissioner | ||
Woodrow Wilson | Twenty-eighth President of the United States | ||
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Dan Miller | Journalist, TV personality | ||
Judy Woodruff | Television news anchor and journalist | ||
Photo | Name | Notes | References |
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Hervey M. Cleckley | Psychiatrist | ||
Roland A. Steiner | Archaeologist | ||
Susan Still Kilrain | Retired United States Naval officer and NASA astronaut | ||
Macon, officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia, United States. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Atlanta and near the state's geographic center—hence its nickname "The Heart of Georgia".
Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. was a career officer in the United States Army. One of the few black officers in an era when American society was largely segregated, in 1940 he was promoted to brigadier general, the army's first African American general officer.
Joseph Habersham was an American businessman, Georgia politician, soldier in the Continental Army, and Postmaster General of the United States.
James Hamilton Lewis was an American attorney and politician. Sometimes referred to as J. Ham Lewis or Ham Lewis, he represented Washington in the United States House of Representatives, and Illinois in the United States Senate. He was the first to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate.
Georgia was one of the original seven slave states that formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861, triggering the U.S. Civil War. The state governor, Democrat Joseph E. Brown, wanted locally raised troops to be used only for the defence of Georgia, in defiance of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, who wanted to deploy them on other battlefronts. When the Union blockade prevented Georgia from exporting its plentiful cotton in exchange for key imports, Brown ordered farmers to grow food instead, but the breakdown of transport systems led to desperate shortages.
Robert Houstoun Anderson was a West Point graduate, an infantry officer in the United States Army and served as a Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. After the war he served as the Chief of Police for the city of Savannah for 23 years and was twice appointed to serve on the Visitor's Board of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. With General Wheeler, General Anderson played an important role in reunification, recommending improvements and changes at West Point like electricity and the telephone in 1887.
Slavery in Georgia is known to have been practiced by European colonists. During the colonial era, the practice of slavery in Georgia soon became surpassed by industrial-scale plantation slavery.
Lucy Craft Laney was an American educator who in 1883 founded the first school for black children in Augusta, Georgia. She was principal for 50 years of the Haines Institute for Industrial and Normal Education.
Rufus Ezekiel Lester was a U.S. Representative from Georgia.
General Willard Gordon Wyman was a senior United States Army officer who served as Commanding General of Continental Army Command from 1956 to 1958.
The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
The Southern League was a Class B and Class C minor league baseball league which operated intermittently in the Southern United States from 1885 to 1899. Financial problems plagued the league and its member teams throughout their existence. It was not unusual for teams to depart the league during the season or for the league to cease operations without completing the season. It was this lack of financial support which ultimately caused the league to permanently disband in 1889. In 1901, a new league, called the Southern Association, was created from its remnants.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA.
David Hillhouse Buel was a United States Army officer who rose to the rank of brevet major and lieutenant colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born in Michigan, he attended the United States Military Academy, and eventually became Chief of Ordnance of the Army of the Tennessee and fought in the First Battle of Bull Run. He was killed by a soldier at Fort Leavenworth, whom he had imprisoned for desertion.
Frederick S. Strong was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of major general, and was a veteran of the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and World War I. Strong was best known for his command of the Hawaiian Department from 1916 to 1917 and the 40th Division during World War I.
Henry W. Closson was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the American Indian Wars and the American Civil War, he served from 1854 to 1896 and attained the rank of colonel. During the Civil War, Closson received brevet promotions to major and lieutenant colonel to recognize his heroism during the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana and Siege of Fort Morgan, Alabama.
George D. Shea was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, Shea attained the rank of major general, and was a recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Silver Star, two awards of the Legion of Merit, and two awards of the Bronze Star Medal, as well as several foreign awards.
William P. Duvall was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War and Philippine–American War, he served from 1869 to 1911, commanded units including the Philippine Division, and attained the rank of major general.
Charles L. Phillips was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I, he was a Field Artillery specialist who joined the Coast Artillery Corps when it was created as a separate branch. Phillips served from 1881 to 1920 and attained the rank of brigadier general.