The Augusta Canal is a historic

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

located in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The canal is fed by the Savannah River and passes through three levels (approximately total) 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 A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

of the Savannah River to drive mills, to provide transportation of goods, and to provide a

municipal water supply A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see Water purification#Sources of ...

. It is the only canal in the US in continuous use for its original purposes of providing power, transport, and municipal water.

History

19th Century

The Augusta Canal was initially completed in 1845 as a source of water, power, and transportation for the city of Augusta. It was one of the few successful industrial canals in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. During the time of construction, the city's Canal Commission was headed by

Henry Harford Cumming Henry Harford Cumming (1799–1866) was an important figure in antebellum Augusta, Georgia. His main business was in cotton but he also engaged J. Edgar Thomson to design the Augusta Canal, in order to run his mills and had started a law firm wi ...

. Cumming personally paid railroad engineer John Edgar Thomson to conduct the initial survey for the project. In 1847, construction began on the first factory, a saw and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

at the present site of

Enterprise Mill The Enterprise Mill is a historical residential and office complex along the Augusta Canal in Augusta, Georgia. Enterprise is located at the corner of Transportation in Augusta, Georgia#Greene Street, Greene Street and Transportation in Augusta, G ...

. The Augusta Manufacturing Company, a sprawling four-story textile "manufactory", soon followed. They would be the first of many factories built along the Augusta Canal. By the time of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Augusta was one of the few manufacturing centers in the South. The power and water transportation afforded by the canal were among the factors that led Confederate Col.

George Washington Rains George Washington Rains (1817 – March 21, 1898) was a United States Army and later Confederate States Army officer. A skilled engineer and inventor; he was instrumental in providing the Confederacy with much-needed gunpowder throughout the ...

to select Augusta as the location for the Confederate Powderworks. The 28 buildings, which were the only ones designed, constructed, and paid for by the government of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, stretched for along the Augusta Canal. Other war industries were established along or near the canal, making Augusta an important center for

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

. As the Civil War moved into Georgia in 1864, there was fear that US General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

's troops would move to attack Augusta and her massive gunpowder factory. But Sherman's march through the South left Augusta untouched. As a result, the city ended the war in reasonably better physical and economic condition than many Southern cities. The population had doubled and hard currency was available to finance recovery, including expansion of the canal. Historic Augusta Canal and Industrial District -Sibely and King mills

Historic Augusta Canal and Industrial District -Sibely and King mills

The canal was enlarged in 1875. A boom era saw the construction of the Enterprise Mill, King Mill, and Sibley Mill, the Lombard Ironworks; many other plants opened or expanded. Many people who lived on farms moved to the city to work at the mills, including women and children. The factories led to the rise of mill villages in their precincts. In the 1890s, the city replaced its old water pumping station with impressive structure at mid-canal that is still used by the city of Augusta today. As the electric age began to dawn, Augusta began to turn the canal's falling water power to drive the first electrical generation equipment. By 1892, Augusta boasted both electric streetcars and street lights — the first Southern city to have these amenities.

20th Century

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing was a big problem in Augusta during the early 20th century. Following major floods in the 1920s and 1930s, the Federal Works Progress Administration deployed hundreds of workers to make repairs and improvements, build a new

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

and to straighten the canal. By the mid-20th century, the canal came into a period of neglect. Textile factories began to close and the city's industrial activity began to shift south of the city. At one point in the 1960s, city officials considered draining the canal to build a superhighway. Flickers of interest in reviving the Augusta Canal began appearing in the 1970s. A state park was proposed, but never materialized. In 1989, the state legislature created the Augusta Canal Authority, the body that has jurisdiction over the canal today. In 1993, the Authority issued a comprehensive Master Plan, outlining the Canal's development potential. In 1996, the US Congress designated the Augusta Canal a

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

, the first such designation in Georgia.

21st Century

Augusta Canal tour departs from Enterprise Mill

The Augusta Canal Authority moved forward with its master plan. In 2003, the Augusta Canal Interpretive Center (now Discovery Center) opened in the revitalized Enterprise Mill. In late 2003 and early 2004, two modern-day Petersburg boats, inspired by the cargo vessels that once plied the canal with bales of cotton and farm goods, began operation for guided tours. The King and the Sibley

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s are now owned by the Augusta Canal Authority.

National Designations

The canal is, along with four historic industrial areas, part of the Historic Augusta Canal and Industrial District, which was named a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1977. It was also named a National Heritage Area by Congress in 1996, the first designated National Heritage Area in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The Augusta Canal & Industrial District was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 2018.

Today

The Augusta Canal is a principal source of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

in Augusta and is a centerpiece of the city. It also has been a focus of redevelopment. Textile mills such as the Enterprise and Sutherland mills have been converted to upscale offices and

loft apartment A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

s. New projects, such as the Kroc Center and Canalside Apartments have been constructed. Other developments such as Harrisburg Canal Village, and Augusta Canal Mill Village trailhead are proposed or under construction. Canoes at Augusta Canal headgate area

The canal is best known today for its recreational facilities, including daily guided tours on electric tour boats, paddling and kayaking, and for its

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

. The

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...

on the canal's first level forms a backbone for the recreational trail system, complemented by newer trails including the River Levee Trail, Third Level Trail, and the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) single-track mountain bike trail.

Augusta Canal Discovery Center at Enterprise Mill

Augusta Canal Discovery Center main sign a

Enterprise Mill in Augusta is also the site of the ''Augusta Canal Discovery Center at Enterprise Mill'', (known as the Interpretive Center from 2003-2013.) The interactive museum details how the canal was built and how it works,

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

, the history of the mills along the canal and the life of mill workers, and the 20th century decline of the mills and the effects on the canal. Boat tours of the Canal start from the Discovery Center.

Crossings

References

External links