Augusta Arsenal The Augusta Arsenal was a 19th - century fortification in Augusta , Georgia . Established in 1816 and initially completed on the Georgia bank of the Savannah River in 1819 , it was moved to the former Belle Vue estate in the Summerville neighborhood of Augusta in 1827 due to health concerns after several fever epidemics . Early history . The Belle Vue estate was established by George and Eliza Talbot Walker . It was the birthplace of their granddaughter , Octavia Walton Le Vert in 1811 . George later sold Belle Vue to his brother , Freeman Walker , for use as a summer estate . Freeman Walker sold the property , with the exception of one acre that contained the Walker Family Cemetery , to the United States government for $ 6 , 000 in 1826 . The arsenal was moved to the new location the following year , with four large brick buildings connected by a twenty - two inch thick wall completed in 1829 . Troops from the arsenal took part in various campaigns involving the Cherokee , Muscogee , and Seminole tribes and took part in the Mexican – American War . Civil War . Following the secession of Georgia from the Union , then governor , Joseph E . Brown , visited the arsenal on January 23 , 1861 and demanded that the commander , Arnold Elzey surrender the facility to the state . Elzey initially refused . 600 citizens of Augusta then volunteered for militia duty based on rumors that the state was going to take the arsenal from Elzey and his small contingent of 82 soldiers . Brown gave Elzey a second chance to surrender the facility , demanding an answer by 9 o ' clock the next morning . After notifying his superiors of the situation via telegraph , Elzey turned the arsenal over to the state the next day . By summer 1861 , the Confederate Chief of Ordnance , Josiah Gorgas , determined to greatly expand the arsenal around the original nucleus . His plans included building a " great arsenal of construction where ammunition , field and siege artillery projectiles and ordnance stores in general [ would ] be made in large quantities . " April 1862 saw the arsenal placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Rains . He was also put in charge of erecting the enormous Confederate Powderworks , which he placed at the 1816 arsenal site . The arsenal produced large quantities of war materiel from 1863 to 1865 . The arsenal was under threat in November 1864 during Sherman ' s March to the Sea , with equipment prepared for evacuation until the Union Army turned toward Savannah . In the end , the arsenal was surrendered back to Federal control when Union troops entered Augusta on May 3 , 1865 . Later history . The arsenal was a valuable asset for the war effort during the Spanish – American War . It manufactured various types of equipment and served as a supply and repair point . During World War I the arsenal served as a center for the repair of small arms . Following minimum staffing after close of World War I , World War II saw activity at the site increase enormously , with the construction of roughly fifty new buildings . Primary activities were directed at maintenance and supply of weapons and ammunition , with over 1000 people working at the arsenal . The arsenal remained in operation until 1955 , at which point the decision was made to close it . Most of the property was given to the Georgia Board of Education . It was converted into the Junior College of Augusta in 1957 . The name was changed to Augusta College in 1958 , now known as Augusta State University . The arsenal commandant ' s house , one of the original four arsenal buildings , is now known as the Stephen Vincent Benét House . It was designated as a National Historic Landmark on November 11 , 1971 . Noted poet and novelist Stephen Vincent Benét lived here when his father , Colonel James Walker Benét commanded the Augusta Arsenal from 1911 to 1919 . The house later served as the President ' s House of Augusta College .