The Fort Grierson marker feels like one of those small, easily overlooked pieces of Augusta's…read moreRevolutionary landscape, the kind you only find when you're already wandering through the older grid of streets and notice a flash of Georgia Historical Commission brown against the brick of a firehouse. Its placement against the wall of an Augusta fire station gives it a slightly improvised quality, as if the city wanted to preserve the memory even when the original ground has long since been reshaped by roads, levees, and municipal buildings. That contrast of a modern firehouse carrying a fragment of eighteenth century conflict fits Augusta perfectly, because this is a city where the Colonial Era still surfaces in unexpected corners. The marker reads, "Approximate location of Ft. Grierson, named after British Lt. Col. James Grierson, who commanded a temporary stronghold at this place during occupation of Augusta by the British under Col. Brown from May, 1780, to June, 1781. After a rendezvous between Richard Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee, approaching from Sand Bar Ferry with General Elijah Clarke, and General Andrew Pickens, approaching from the North and West, the fort was invested and, after vigorous attack, Grierson attempted to escape with his garrison under protection of the river bank to Fort Cornwallis (site of present St. Paul`s Church). Few escaped; Grierson was captured and while a prisoner, was shot by an unknown Georgia rifleman." It is marker number 121-4 and it was erected in 1954 by the Georgia Historical Commission. What makes this marker compelling is how much it reveals about Augusta's Revolutionary geography. Fort Grierson and Fort Cornwallis formed a defensive pair along the river, controlling movement and trade. The siege that unfolded here was part of the larger Patriot effort to retake the backcountry from British and Loyalist forces, a campaign that stretched from the Savannah River up into the Carolina Piedmont. [Review 226 of 2026 - 926 in Georgia - 25415 overall]

Augusta has a way of folding its layers of history into the landscape so quietly that you can walk…read morepast a parking lot or a modern storefront and never guess that a national hero once stepped ashore here, and the Lafayette marker is one of those reminders that the city was already old with memory long before the Civil War reshaped it. The marker reads, "This is the site of the old Planter's Hotel, which was burned in 1839. There the Marquis de LaFayette was entertained during his visit to Augusta in March 1825. LaFayette landed at Savannah on March 19th and traveled to Augusta with Governor Troup a few days later. Arriving on the steamboat "Altamaha", LaFayette was greeted by a great procession of musicians, soldiers, clergymen, and citizens, who accompanied him into the city and to the Planter`s Hotel, where apartments had been prepared for him. The next day, Mayor William Holt formally welcomed the Marquis at the City Hall. The festivities planned in honor of LaFayette were even more lavish than those enjoyed by General Washington when he visited the city in 1791. An elaborate banquet and ball climaxed his visit. LaFayette left Augusta on Friday, March 25th, and with Governor Troup journeyed on to Milledgeville. The reverence which the people of Augusta felt for this most beloved American ally is relfected in a toast proposed at the banquet: "A man whose sovereignty is above that of kings - LaFayette who reigns in the hearts of the whole people." The marker was erected in 1962 by the Georgia Historical Commission. It is marker number 121-42. It stands as a small but vivid link to a moment when Augusta was part of a national celebration of gratitude, pride, and Revolutionary heritage, and it adds another thread to the city's long, layered story. [Review 207 of 2026 - 908 in Georgia - 25396 overall]

Set along a quiet stretch of US‑278 east of Augusta, the Downer School marker feels like one of…read morethose roadside pauses where the landscape briefly opens a window into a community's long educational story. It stands not far from another marker, but this one has a more intimate, almost elegiac tone, because it points to a school that has been gone for decades and an earlier institution that vanished more than a century ago. The setting is simple, just a pull‑off along the highway, yet the text invites you to imagine a succession of buildings, teachers, and students who shaped Beech Island long before the modern road existed. The front of the marker reads, "Downer Institute & School. Downer Institute, founded in 1843, was originally located 1.5 mi. NE of this site and operated until 1865. It was named for benefactor Alexander Downer (1752-1820), whose will established an orphanage and school at Beech Island. By 1898 the General Assembly, at the request of Aiken County citizens, reestablished Downer School for the community at large; the school reopened in 1899." And the reverse, "Downer School, 1924-1986. Downer Elementary School, successor to the Downer Institute, stood here 1924-1950 and 1952-1986. A one-story school built here in 1924 replaced a two-story school constructed ¼ mi. SW in 1899, which burned in 1923-24. It burned in 1950 and was replaced by a second one-story school built in 1952, which served the Beech Island community until Downer Elementary School closed in 1986." It is marker number 2-18 and it was erected in 2000 by The Downer Fund Trustees. The sign stands alone now, with no surviving buildings to anchor the story, but that absence gives the marker a kind of quiet authority. It becomes the last physical reminder of a place where generations learned their letters, weathered fires, and kept returning to the idea that education mattered enough to rebuild again and again. [Review 196 of 2026 - 1390 in South Carolina - 25385 overall]

Located in the middle of the 700 block of Broad Street in downtown Augusta, the Confederate…read moreMonument stands at 76 feet tall. It has a granite base topped by a shaft of pure Italian marble. The monument was commissioned by the Ladies Memorial Association of Augusta in 1875. It was designed by the architectural firm of VanGruder and Young of Philadelphia, built by the Markwalter firm of Augusta, carved by Antonio Fontana, and dedicated on October 31, 1878. Around the base of the monument are the life-size statues of four Southern generals in the War Between the States: Thomas R. R. Cobb, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and William Henry Talbot. A Confederate private is depicted at the top of the shaft. The model for this statue was Private Berry Benson of Augusta. An inscription at the base reads, "In honor of the men of Richmond County who died in the cause of the Confederate States." On one side, it reads "In Memoriam, "No nation rose so white and fair: None fell so pure of crime."" The monument is definitely impressive and it is in excellent condition. There are no markings. There is metered street parking. There were some rallies a few years back to have it removed, but nothing recent. I suppose it will go away at some point. [Review 14728 overall, 228 of 2021, number 392 in Georgia.]

The 4th Infantry (Ivy) Division memorial on Greene Street fits neatly into Augusta's habit of…read moreplacing its military history right in the center of civic life. It's a modest granite marker, upright and clean‑lined, carrying the division's ivy leaf emblem and a brief dedication to the men who served in the unit. What makes it interesting is how it anchors a very specific chapter of twentieth‑century military history in a city that sent soldiers to every major conflict: the 4th Division fought in the Meuse‑Argonne in World War I, landed at Utah Beach on D‑Day, pushed through the Hürtgen Forest, and later served in Vietnam and Iraq, so the marker becomes a kind of shorthand for a century of deployments. Set in the Greene Street median among other service memorials, it reads less like a standalone monument and more like one voice in a long conversation about duty, sacrifice, and the way Augusta has chosen to remember its veterans across generations. [Review 214 of 2026 - 915 in Georgia - 25403 overall]

This historical marker is located along Broad Street in downtown Augusta. It has the same text on…read moreboth sides and the text is definitely very small. It reads, "Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman (1794-1885). Born in Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia on March 21, 1794. Grew up in Kentucky under guardianship of Henry Clay. Visited Augusta in 1818, where she met and married Richard Tubman, wealthy merchant. After his death in 1836, she became interested in the teachings of Alexander Campbell and helped found the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Augusta. Provided funds for numerous churches in Georgia and Kentucky; supported foreign missions. Emancipated her slaves in 1837, providing them a subsidy to start a new life in Liberia. During the Civil War, she imported the first ice machine to relieve suffering soldiers. With other shareholders of Georgia Railroad, provided free transportation for Confederate soldiers. Supported restoration of Mount Vernon, VA. Endowed Tubman High School in 1874. Astute in business, she made wise investments; was major stockholder in John P. King Manufacturing Co. Entertained notable guests such as Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Clay, Alexander Campbell, Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens. She established endowments for schools, scholarships, and the Tubman Home for the aged. Her philanthropy involved hundreds of thousands of dollars." Online, there is more information. Emily spend much of her childhood in Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1818, she moved to Augusta and married Richard Tubman, an Englishman from Maryland with extensive landholdings in Georgia. Due to fears of contracting yellow fever, Emily would spend her summers in Frankfort for the rest of her life. Richard died in 1836, leaving Emily in charge of the large estate and extensive properties. As part of Richard's will, he had left a $10,000 gift to the University of Georgia on the condition that the Georgia legislature allowed for his slaves to be freed. However, as the legislature refused to allow this, the gift was not made, and instead Emily became involved with the American Colonization Society's efforts to relocate free African Americans to Africa. Emily offered the 144 slaves that had belonged to Richard the opportunity to relocate to Liberia, with 69 accepting the offer. Emily covered the $6,000 cost for relocation. A town in Maryland County, Liberia was named Tubman in her honor, and William Tubman, the grandson of two of her former slaves, served as the 19th president of Liberia during the 20th century. Tubman had become a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) following her interest in the teachings of Alexander Campbell, a prominent leader in the Restoration Movement. She donated the building that housed First Christian Church in Augusta, which had been established in 1835. Among her other philanthropic activities with the Disciples of Christ, she established an endowment for Bethany College, which had been established by Campbell in 1840, and donated to Kentucky University. Among her other business ventures, she was a shareholder of the Georgia Railroad and owned many stocks in a manufacturing company by John Pendleton King. In 1874, she endowed Tubman High School in Augusta. Today, a middle school in the city bears her name. Mrs. Tubman was quite the heroine of Augusta and I would love to have met her. [Review 14805 overall, 307 of 2021, number 406 in Georgia.]

The Richmond County marker on the grounds of Augusta City Hall reads like a compact civic…read morebiography, but when you slow down with it for a moment you realize how much of Augusta's identity is tucked into those few bronze paragraphs. It stands in the grassy strip just off Telfair Street, close enough to the Municipal Building that you can feel how deliberately the city placed its institutional memory beside its modern government. It is marker number 121-27 and it was erected in 1956 by the Georgia Historical Commission. It reads, "Originally designated as the Parish of St. Paul by the Act creating it in 1758, the name was changed in 1777 to Richmond County in honor of the Duke of Richmond, who, as a member of Parliament, was a zealous supporter of the American cause, advocating independence of the Colonies. It originally included a large part of four other counties: Columbia, Jefferson, McDuffie and Warren. Included within its borders are the incorporated towns of Augusta, the county seat; Hephzibah, formerly Brothersville; Blythe; and McBean. "Originally a trading community dealing in pelfry and tobacco, later its economy rested on numerous industries, principally textile, operated by power developed from its numerous creeks and the Augusta Canal constructed in 1845-1846, and agricultural products from rich arable farm lands. Numerous military engagements occurred here during the Revolutionary War, during which Augusta was twice captured by the British. "During the War Between the States, the United States Arsenal surrendered to State forces without resistance, and a Confederate powder factory, said to the be the second largest then in existence, supplied the Confederate Army and Navy. United States Army encampments, McKenzie, Hancock and Gordon, maintained during the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II, respectively." Taken together, the marker reads like a compressed timeline of Augusta's civic life: colonial parish, Revolutionary battleground, industrial canal town, Confederate manufacturing center, and twentieth century military site. Standing in front of it, with City Hall behind you and Greene Street stretching out nearby, you feel how the county's long arc is still present in the landscape, even when the modern city moves past it at full speed. [Review 225 of 2026 - 925 in Georgia - 25414 overall]

We drove past this deteriorating church and had to circle around to see what's going on. It's in…read morebad shape. The marker reads, "In March 1817, eight men and two women meeting in an Augusta home formed "The Baptist Praying Society of Augusta" - the forerunner of the First Baptist Church. Two months later the society was constituted a church under the leadership of the first minister, Wm. T. Brantley, this property was purchased in 1870. A church on this site was dedicated May 26, 1821. In 1845, after serious friction arose in the national Triennial Convention, 327 delegates from eight southern states and the District of Columbia met here to form the Southern Baptist Convention. This building was erected in 1902." This is marker number 121-29 and it was erected in 1956 by the Georgia Historical Commission. A separate granite marker is nearby. It reads, "On this site May 8, 1845. The Southern Baptist Convention was organized by 327 delegates from the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky and District of Columbia. The following officers were elected: Rev. Wm. B. Johnson of Edgefield S.C. President Talson Lumpton, Ga J.B. Taylor, Va. Vice presidents Jesse Hartwell, Ala. James C. Crane, Va. Secretaries The Rev. W.T. Brantey, Sr. was Pastor of the Church. This tablet was presented at the Centennial of the Convention" it's falling down because decades of deferred maintenance have finally become visible from the street. The building has been unused since 1975, and water intrusion, broken windows, and repeated break‑ins have accelerated the decay. Preservation officials have cited the owner for failing to stabilize the structure, and the damaged but otherwise impressive dome in particular makes the whole complex appear structurally unsound. What you're seeing isn't an illusion but the cumulative effect of long neglect on a once‑grand Beaux Arts landmark. Here's to hoping it can be repaired and not collapse. [Review 219 of 2026 - 920 in Georgia - 25408 overall]