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History of Athens, Georgia:
In The Late 1700s, A Trading Settlement On The Banks Of The Oconee River Called Cedar Shoals Stood Where Athens Is Located 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. Sixteen Years Later, 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, John Milledge, One Of The Trustees And Later Governor Of Georgia, Bought 633 Acres (2.6 Kmē) From Daniel Easley And Donated It To The University. Milledge Named The Surrounding Area Athens After The City That Was Home To The Academy Of Plato And Aristotle In Ancient Greece.
The First Building Built Was Named Franklin College In Honor Of Ben Franklin And Is Now Called Old College. The Town Grew As Lots Adjacent To The College Were Sold To Raise Money For The Additional Construction Of The School. By By The Time 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.
Athens In 1840Athens Officially Became A Town In December 1806 With A Government Made Up Of A Three-member Commission. The University Continued To Grow, But So Did The Town, 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 1841, Railroad Lines Were Laid Through Athens, Expanding The Commercial Development And Connecting The City With Atlanta To The South And Greenville, South Carolina To The North.
During The American Civil War, William T. Sherman's Union Army Concentrated On Atlanta, Cutting Off The Rail Lines To Prevent Athens From Resupplying The Besieged City. After Burning Atlanta, The Union Army Largely Ignored Athens In The March To The Sea, Instead Turning Southeast To Savannah, Georgia.
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. Freed Slaves Moved To The City, Many Attracted By The New Centers For Education Such As The Freedman's Bureau. This New Population Was Served By Three Black Newpapers - The Athens Blade, The Athens Clipper, And The Progressive Era.
As Athens Became A More Populous City In The 1880s, City Services And Improvements Were Undertaken. The Athens Police Department Was Founded In 1881 And Public Schools Opened In 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 Its Centennial In 1901, Athens Was A Much-changed City. A New City Hall Was Completed In 1904. An African-American Middle Class And Professional Class Had Grown Around The Corner Of Washington And Lumpkin Streets. The Theater At The Morton Building Hosted Movies And Performances By Well-known Black Musicians Such As Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, And Duke Ellington. Athens Got Its First Tall Building In 1908 With The Seven-story Southern Mutual Insurance Company Building.
During World War II, The U.S. Navy Built New Building And Paved Runways To Serve As A Training Facility For Naval Pilots. 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. The Athens Music Scene Grew In The 1970s And 80s With R.E.M. And The B-52's Scoring Breakout Hits. Athens Became A Unified Government With Clarke County, Georgia In 1990.
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