In the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the
Oconee River called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is today. On January 27, 1785, the
Georgia General Assembly granted a
charter by
Abraham Baldwin for the
University of Georgia as the first
state-supported university. Georgia's control of the area was established following the
Oconee War. In 1801, a committee from the university's board of
trustees selected a site for the university on a hill above Cedar Shoals, in what was then
Jackson County. On July 25, 1801,
John Milledge, one of the trustees and later governor of Georgia, bought 633 acres from Daniel Easley and donated it to the university. Milledge named the surrounding area
Athens after the city that was home to the
Platonic Academy of
Plato and
Aristotle in
Classical Greece. The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus were
made from logs. The town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school. By the time the first class graduated from the university in 1804, Athens consisted of three homes, three stores, and a few other buildings facing Front Street, now known as Broad Street. Completed in 1806 and named in honor of
Benjamin Franklin, Franklin College was the first permanent structure of the University of Georgia and the city of Athens. This brick building is now known as Old College. Athens officially became a town in December 1806 with a government made up of a three-member commission. The university and town continued to grow with
cotton mills fueling the industrial and commercial development. Athens became known as the "
Manchester of the South" after the city in England known for its mills. In 1833, a group of Athens businessmen led by James Camak, tired of their wagons getting stuck in the mud, built one of Georgia's first railroads, the
Georgia, connecting Athens to
Augusta by 1841, and to Marthasville (now
Atlanta) by 1845. In the 1830s and 1840s, transportation developments and the growing influence of the University of Georgia made Athens one of the state's most important cities as the Antebellum Period neared the height of its development. The university essentially created a chain reaction of growth in the community which developed on its doorstep. During the
American Civil War, Athens became a significant supply center when the New Orleans armory was relocated to what is now called the Chicopee building. Fortifications can still be found along parts of the North Oconee River between College Avenue and Oconee Street. In addition, Athens played a small part in the ill-fated "Stoneman Raid" when a skirmish was fought on a site overlooking the Middle Oconee River near what is now the old Macon Highway. A
Confederate memorial that used to stand on Broad Street near the University of Georgia Arch was removed the week of August 10, 2020. During
Reconstruction, Athens continued to grow. The form of government changed to a mayor-council government with a new city charter on August 24, 1872, and Henry Beusse was elected as the first mayor of Athens. Beusse was instrumental in the city's rapid growth after the Civil War. After serving as mayor, he worked in the railroad industry and helped bring railroads to the region, creating growth in many of the surrounding communities. Freed slaves moved to the city, where many were attracted by the new centers for education such as the
Freedmen's Bureau. This new population was served by three black newspapers: the
Athens Blade, the
Athens Clipper, and the
Progressive Era. In the 1880s, as Athens became more densely populated, city services and improvements were undertaken. The Athens
Police Department was founded in 1881 and
public schools opened in the fall of 1886. Telephone service was introduced in 1882 by the
Bell Telephone Company. Transportation improvements were also introduced with a street paving program beginning in 1885 and
streetcars, pulled by mules, in 1888. By the centennial in 1901, Athens had experienced a century of development and growth. A new
city hall was completed in 1904. An
African-American middle class and the professional class grew around the corner of Washington and Hull Streets, known as the "Hot Corner", where the Morton Building was constructed in 1910. The theater at the Morton Building hosted movies and performances by black musicians such as
Louis Armstrong,
Cab Calloway, and
Duke Ellington. In 1907, aviation pioneer
Ben T. Epps became Georgia's first pilot on a hill outside town that would become the
Athens-Ben Epps Airport. The last, and perhaps only, lynching in Athens occurred on February 16, 1921, when a mob of 3,000 people attacked the Athens courthouse and carried off John Lee Eberhart. Eberhart had been arrested for the murder of his employer, Ida D. Lee, with a shotgun in Oconee County. That night, he was driven back to the Lee farm where a mock trial was held. Though he refused to confess, he was tied to a stake and burned to death. The lynching received widespread attention. During
World War II, the
U.S. Navy built new buildings and paved runways to serve as a training facility for naval pilots. In 1954, the U.S. Navy chose Athens as the site for the
Navy Supply Corps school. The school was in
Normaltown in the buildings of the old
Normal School. It closed in 2011 under the
Base Realignment and Closure process. The 56-acre site is now home to the Health Sciences Campus, which contains the University of Georgia/Medical College of Georgia Medical Partnership, the University of Georgia College of Public Health, and other health-related programs. In 1961, Athens witnessed part of the civil rights movement when
Charlayne Hunter and
Hamilton Holmes became the first two black students to enter the University of Georgia. Despite the
Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling in 1954, the Athens–Clarke County school district remained segregated until 1964.
Timeline • 1801 •
Franklin College opens. •
Clarke County formed from part of
Jackson County. • 1806 - Town of Athens incorporated. • 1808 -
Georgia Express newspaper begins publication. • 1810 •
Jackson Street Cemetery in use (approximate date). • Population: 273. • 1832 -
Southern Banner newspaper in publication. • 1842 -
Joseph Henry Lumpkin House built. • 1883 - Synagogue built. • 1891 • Electric streetcar begins operating. • 1928 - WTFI radio begins broadcasting. •
University of Georgia Press established. • 1940 - Population: 20,650. • 1948 -
Georgia Museum of Art opens. • 1958 -
Athens Area Vocational-Technical School founded. • 1959 - Athens Historical Society organized. • 1963 - Beechwood Shopping Center in business. • Population: 100,266. • 2001 •
Athens Institute for Contemporary Art founded. •
Athens Banner-Herald newspaper in publication. • 2007 -
Paul Broun becomes
U.S. representative for
Georgia's 10th congressional district. • 2010 - Population: 115,452. • 2011 -
Nancy Denson becomes mayor. • 2015 -
Jody Hice becomes U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district. • 2019 -
Kelly Girtz becomes mayor. ==Geography==