Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-04-11
The Other AUGUSTA.

4
A reader of the Journal writes US to
inquire If the city of Augusta, Georgia,
was named after our own city. With
most creditable loyalty to the home
city it never occurs to him to ask if
this Augusta was named for the one
| in Georgia, as pupil once asked i'll
one Of our public schools. AS mat
ter of fact neither Augusta was named
| for the other. The southern city was
founded by General Oglethorpe as a
trading post in 1876, and was named in
honor of the Princess Augusta of Eng
land who was married that year and
became the mother of King George
III. -
There is none of the uncertainty
| about the origin of that city's name
which there is in regard to the same
royal name as applied to our own city.
Historians have differed. and doubt
less will always differ. as to why this
| city was named Augusta. First in
1923 the Koussinoc trading post, then
after 1854 the Fort Western settle
ment which was part Of Hallowell,
then made an Independent municipal
ity in 1897 by the name of Harring-
ton, our city's name was changed to
Augusta a few months late. Why?
| Perhaps the name was suggested by
the settlement made at the mouth of
the Kennebec in 1714 by DR.. oliver
| Moves of London and named Augusta,
| a. settlement which was soon wiped
out by the Indians. Perhaps the
name of Augusta was given the new
town by Judge Daniel Cony in honor
daughter of his friend General Henry
Dearborn, and a young lady of great
beauty and accomplishments. Local
historians have advanced both theories.
but the former is now more generally
accepted. There had been an earlier
Harrington on the coast of Maine, as
we'll as an earlier Augusta, but per-
sistent local tradition has it that Har-
rington as applied to our own city
was SO quickly given up because the
Hallowell people unkindly transformed
II into Herring town" in allusion to
the extensive fishing industry then car
ried on here. All this is of much
local interest, but it does not tell our
correspondent about the Augusta in
Georgia.
The southern city and our own have
much in common besides their names.
Augusta, Georgia, like this city is at
the head of navigation on a river, the
Savannah. It is also the county
seat, and for 20 years following the
Revolution it was the capital of
Georgia. It's beginnings of civilization
were as a trading post, as was the
case with our city, though it dates
only from 1876, or over century later
than the Pilgrims established their
trading post at this spot. Like our
city it is. q cotton manufacturing CEN
ter. and it is also one of the largest
cotton markets of the South. AS an
Incorporated town it dates from 1885,
just year later than our Augusta
was Incorporated.
In other matters there are wide diff
ferences between the northern and
southern Augustus. The Georgia city
has population close to the $4,000
mark, making it about four times as
large as our city. Its growth has
been very rapid as it had only 1850
people when the war broke out in
1860. It's system of municipal gov
eminent is much different. 1t has no
board of aldermen. and instead of
electing it's mayor and all it's council
men every year, it's mayor has a three
year term and of it's Is councilmen, 3
from each ward, one-third are elected
each year. There are obvious ad-
vantages in it's system over ours.
The Georgia city has had a more ex-
citing war history than our city. In the
Revolution it was early occupied by
the British who named it Fort Corn
wallis. In 1881 it was captured by
the Americans after protracted
seige and an assault in which many
lives were lost. In the Civil War it
suffered with everything else that
was in his pathway when General
Sherman marched through Georgia,
from Atlanta to the sea. It's recovery
from the war and it's splendid pros
perity in recent years have been in
keeping with the spirit of the great
Empire State of the South. II is a
beautiful city, finely laid out, with
broad shaded streets, numerous parks
and many notable public institutions.
It's even temperature and dry air
have made it increasingly popular as