The museum curates the largest and most significant historical collection in the CSRA and functions as a historical research and resource center for professional and amateur historians, media, organizations and individuals, and is home to permanent exhibition Augusta’s Story, a 12,000 year journey through the region’s past. The exhibition has received several awards including the prestigious Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History, the Georgia Historical Society Local Achievement Award, and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries Permanent Exhibition of the Year, 1998. The museum also hosts a permanent exhibition on the history of healthcare in Augusta, The Art of Healing, a permanent exhibition chronicling the railroad and banking operations of the most important company of Augusta and Georgia, Into the Interior: A History of the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company, an interactive "just for kids" Susan L. Still Children's Discovery Gallery, and a Transportation Corridor showcasing a 1920's trolley car, a 1914 locomotive and a reconstructed 1930's gas station.
One of the regions best historic resources, the collections of the Augusta Museum of History document the history of Augusta and the surrounding region known as the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA). More than 60,000 artifacts recount the history of Augusta and its environs from the Paleo-Indian period to the present. These include a complete range of objects used by the people of this area for all aspects of human experience including subsistence, work, play, religion, warfare, communication and transportation. The museum has an archaeological collection of over 2,500 prehistoric and historic artifacts including one of the region’s best collections of bannerstones, ground stone artifacts and trade beads.
The area’s contact era that dates to 1685 is represented by trade items, furniture, weapons and domestic objects. A complete range of artifacts from quilts to furniture, from militaria to battle flags and from decorative to domestic arts, documents the history of the region from the founding of Augusta in 1736 to the present. The Civil War collection includes a number of important uniforms, flags and weapons. The artifacts illustrate Augusta’s transformation from trading post to the industrial and commercial center of the region. Transportation history is represented by a 1914 steam locomotive, coal tender and passenger car, a trolley car and Model T automobile.
The Museum’s archives house the photographs, documents, drawings, prints, newspapers and other paper artifacts relating to the history of the region. The archives hold more than 6,000 items, including the beautifully detailed architectural drawings of the Confederate Powder Works.
The Augusta Museum of History collects, preserves, and interprets history in relation to the past of Augusta and Central Savannah River region for the education and enrichment of present and future generations.
Founded in 1937, the Augusta Museum of History is Augusta’s oldest historical agency devoted to the preservation and presentation of local and regional history. The not-for-profit agency functions as the steward of the community’s rich, diverse and invaluable material past.
Local history of the Augusta, Georgia region and surrounding counties
Access: General Public
Appointment required: True
Gift Shop
Event Rental
Group Tours