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Petersburg, Georgia was an upriver market town located in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States (now Elbert County). Now defunct, it was named after Petersburg, Virginia, and founded by Dionysius Oliver in 1786 to serve the rapidly growing Broad River Valley region of Georgia. [1]
Petersburg enjoyed connection via pole boat with Augusta, Georgia, following the Savannah River. [2] Petersburg gained importance as a tobacco inspection station, vital to local planters in obtaining good prices for their casked produce. During the peak of its prosperity, from 1800 to 1810, it was the third-largest city in Georgia, after Savannah and Augusta . [3]
Sibbald described the town in his 1801 Pinelands of Georgia:
PETERSBURG, in point of situation and commercial consequence is second only to Augusta. It is situated on a point of Land, formed by Broad river, where it empties into Savannah river; is a handsome well built Town and presents to the view of the astonished traveller, a Town which has risen out of the Woods in a few years, as if by enchantment: It has two Warehouses for the Inspection of Tobacco: Is fifty miles North west from Augusta. On another point of land on the opposite side of Broad river is the town of Lincoln [Lisbon?], which has an Inspection for Tobacco, some Stores, &c. On the opposite shore in South-Carolina, is the town of Vienna, which has a number of houses, Stores, a tobacco-inspection, &c.' [4]
Longstreet described the town ca. 1806 to 1809 in connection with an annual exhibition at Moses Waddel's nearby Willington Academy.
Petersburg was quite an active, busy, commercial little town. It was situated in the fork of the Savannah and Broad Rivers, and contained some eight or ten stores, with the usual supplement of grog shops, and the very unusual supplement of a billiard-table. Notwithstanding these last, the citizens of the place were generally remarkable for their refinement, respectability, intelligence and hospitality. The dwelling houses far outnumbered the stores and shops. It was separated from Lisbon by Broad River, and from Vienna by the Savannah. Lisbon we believe could never boast of more than two stores and a groggery, and as many dwellings. Vienna surpassed Lisbon in everything, but exactly how far, and in what we are not able to say, except in John Glover's house and store, which had no match in Lisbon. [5]
Notable persons from the Broad River Valley area included William Wyatt Bibb, who practiced medicine in Petersburg, and was elected as a U. S. Representative from Georgia. He went on to serve in the U.S. Senate (1813-1816), moved to Alabama when appointed by the President as the Territorial Governor, and in 1819 was elected as the first Governor of that state. [6] Charles Tait was brought with his family to the area in 1783 and served in the U.S. Senate (1809-1818), making Petersburg the home of concurrent Senators. [7] George Rockingham Gilmer, born in Wilkes County and a pupil of Waddel's Academy, was elected U. S. Representative in the 1820s and Governor of Georgia 1829-1831 and 1837-1839.
The town had a brief life; it was not developed until after the American Revolutionary War and after 1810 its population started declining, until it was abandoned. After the last person left, the buildings deteriorated, and the area finally reverted to agricultural land. The last known sale of a numbered lot occurred in 1837. [8] Several reasons have been advanced for the decline. The tobacco monopoly was squeezed out by cotton, which was 'thrown upon boats all along the river without being inspected'. [9] Other reasons given were the advent of steamboats (which were not practicable above Augusta). Later, the rivers proved to be obstacles to construction of railroads through the area, considered essential for the economic life of towns after 1850. But above all, the opportunity of new land to the west available for development attracted its inhabitants to keep moving west. [10] The Petersburg post office was moved to nearby Lisbon, Georgia in 1844, and closed in 1855. [11] The town of Vienna, South Carolina also declined and disappeared.
The town is best remembered today for its 'Petersburg boats', a pole boat of ten tons' carrying capacity well suited for the stretch of river between Petersburg and Augusta. It was in common use until well after the American Civil War. [12]
Petersburg was located at 33°57'48"N, 82°34'13"W (WGS84/NAD83), at the confluence of the Broad and Savannah Rivers, 75 river miles above Augusta, and 305 river miles above Savannah. [13] The 86 lots first laid out by Oliver occupied an area of about 40 acres. [14] Population as reported by the U.S. Census of 1810 was 332, including slaves, and earlier may have numbered twice as many. [15]
The site is now mostly submerged by Clarks Hill Lake, but visitors to Bobby Brown State Park can see foundations during low water (Augusta Chronicle, February 3, 2013). Maritime historians and archaeologists conducted a multidisciplinary investigation on the submerged ruins of the town in 1988. [16]
Lincoln County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,690. The county seat is Lincolnton. The county was created on February 20, 1796.
Columbia County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,010. The legal county seat is Appling, but the de facto seat of county government is Evans.
Carnesville is a city in Franklin County, Georgia, United States, and the county seat. Located in the center of Franklin County in northeastern Georgia, approximately 85 miles (137 km) from Atlanta, Carnesville had a population of 713 as of 2020. It is the fourth most populous city in the county.
Augusta is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgia's third most populous city, Augusta is located in the Fall Line section of the state.
Bobby Brown Park, formerly known as Bobby Brown State Outdoor Recreation Area and prior to that Bobby Brown State Park, is a 665-acre (2.69 km2) park located near Chennault and Middleton. The park's name is a memorial to Robert T. Brown, a lieutenant in the United States Navy who was killed during World War II aboard the submarine USS Scorpion.
The Augusta Canal is a historic canal located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. The canal is fed by the Savannah River and passes through three levels in suburban and urban Augusta before the water returns to the river at various locations. It was devised to harness the water power at the fall line of the Savannah River to drive mills, to provide transportation of goods, and to provide a municipal water supply. It is the only canal in the US in continuous use for its original purposes of providing power, transport, and municipal water.
The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constructed to join the Macon and Western Railroad at Macon, Georgia, in the United States, and run to Savannah. This created a rail link from Chattanooga, on the Tennessee River, to seaports on the Atlantic Ocean. It took from 1837 to 1843 to build the railroad from Savannah to the eastern bank of the Ocmulgee River at Macon; a bridge into the city was not built until 1851.
The Battle of Kettle Creek was the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 14, 1779. It was fought in Wilkes County about eleven miles (18 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta.
Henry Shultz was a colorful entrepreneur in Northern Germany and the American South. He caused an important bridge to be built across the Savannah River at Augusta, Georgia, and founded the town of Hamburg, South Carolina.
Appling is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Columbia County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 658. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area.
Moses Waddel was an American educator and minister in antebellum Georgia and South Carolina. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.
The dead town of New Savannah began circa 1740 as a Chickasaw village on the Savannah River, at the mouth of Butler Creek below Augusta. Stories as to the circumstances vary, but in any case some portion of the Horse Creek Chickasaws under Squirrel King moved across the river and founded the town from which they farmed, hunted and scouted until the Revolutionary War. In 1757, CPT Daniel Pepper estimated the population there as "seventy Gun Men".
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Saint Paul's Church is a historic Episcopal church in downtown Augusta, Georgia, adjacent to Riverwalk Augusta. A member of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, Saint Paul's conducts its worship services using the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The church, located on the corner of 6th and Reynolds Streets, is the oldest church congregation in Augusta. It was established in 1750 by the Church of England at the site of Fort Augusta. There have been five churches on the site. The current church building, which combines features of Federal architecture with those of the Georgian and Greek Revival styles, was designed by Henry Ten Eyck Wendell and dedicated in 1920. It can seat up to 600 people.
The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as Georgia's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic structures such as the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Congregation Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex. Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.
Augusta, Georgia was founded in 1736 as part of the British colony of Georgia, under the supervision of colony founder James Oglethorpe. It was the colony's second established town, after Savannah. Today, Augusta is the second-largest city in Georgia, and the largest city of the Central Savannah River Area.
The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA.
The Chehaw Affair was a series of events in 1818 which led to the death of at least five and up to fifty friendly Native Americans in the village of Chehaw at the hands of Captain Obed Wright and his militia.
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33°57′48″N82°34′13″W / 33.96333°N 82.57028°W
Municipalities and communities of Elbert County, Georgia, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |