Old Augusta Historic Site | |
Location | Perry County, Mississippi |
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Coordinates | 31°13′28″N 89°02′59″W / 31.22444°N 89.04972°W |
NRHP reference No. | 79001334 |
USMS No. | 111-NAU-5001-NR-ML |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 24, 1979[2] |
Designated USMS | January 13, 1999[1] |
The Old Augusta Historic Site contains the remnants of Augusta,[3] Mississippi, a town that was founded along the Leaf River in 1812 and abandoned between 1902 and 1906.[2] The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1999.
From 1818 until 1906, the town of Augusta served as the county seat for Perry County, Mississippi.[4][5] It was considered a major commercial and administrative center because a United States General Land Office was located there.[6] In October and November 1833, the first public sale of Choctaw cession lands occurred in Augusta, Clinton, and Chocchuma.[7]
In the 1850s, Augusta was the site for the trial and hanging of the outlaw James Copeland.[8] In the 1890s, Davis Hawthorne was hanged in Augusta for the murder of his wife.[2]
When the Mobile, Jackson, and Kansas City Railroad[9] was constructed 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Augusta, the town was moved to the railroad and developed as New Augusta.
In 1983, Georgia-Pacific constructed the Old Augusta Railroad to haul products from the Leaf River Cellulose mill that was built adjacent to the site of Old Augusta.[10]
When the site was evaluated for the National Register of Historic Places during the 1970s, it was determined that the town had been divided into three spatial units—a government district, a business district, and a residential district.[2] But there was little more than brick and concrete rubble where buildings had once stood, and the area had reverted to woodland.