Riverwalk Augusta (also known as the Augusta Riverwalk) is a

city park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

along the Savannah River in downtown Augusta, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The park is alongside and on top of Augusta's levee. It extends from the 13th Street Bridge to the

Gordon Highway Gordon Highway is a major highway in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia, traveling through the southern part of Columbia County and the northeastern part of Richmond County. It is named after Confederate general John Brown Gordo ...

bridge. Sites along the Riverwalk include St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Georgia Cyber Center, and the

Morris Museum of Art The Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia was established in 1985 as a non-profit foundation by William S. Morris III, publisher of The Augusta Chronicle, in memory of his parents, as the first museum dedicated to the collection and exhibition ...

History

Through much of the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, the City of Augusta had been affected by many years of devastating floods that damaged many homes and businesses in Downtown Augusta. In order to control future flooding events, the City of Augusta constructed a levee along the banks of the Savannah River in Downtown Augusta to protect the city from such flood events. However, in 1929, the city suffered a heavy flood that topped over the levee structure and breached into Downtown. Seven years later, the

Flood Control Act of 1936 The Flood Control Act of 1936, , (FCA 1936) was an Act of the United States Congress signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on 22 June 1936.United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to construct a new levee along the Savannah River to its current existing level it sits at today. With a decline in Downtown Augusta in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new local organization, Augusta Tomorrow, was formed to help develop ways to boost local growth in the Downtown area. The concept was soon formed to develop a Riverwalk that would run along top of the existing levee structure. After nearly four years of planning and working with state and federal partners for approval, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 1986 to kick of the Riverwalk improvements. The plan called for a brick walkway on top of the levee, two bulkheads into the Savannah River, and construction of Oglethorpe Park near the Sixth Street Railroad Bridge. In 1989, a second ceremony was held with the announcement of construction of a new 1,800 seat amphitheater located on Ninth Street which was later named after local Augustan singer

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

. Over the next three years following that, new developments along Augusta's Riverwalk were constructed which included the Augusta Riverfront Center, Port Royal, the Morris Museum of Art, and the Fifth Street Marina. Today, the Riverwalk continues to be the site of the Saturday Market on the River - a local farmers market held from April through October. It is also the site of many historical memorials to include markings of previous floods in Augusta, Heroes Overlook which honors Medal of Honor recipients, and a traditional Japanese Garden and Waterfall from Augusta's sister city, Takarazuka, Japan.

References

External links

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Riverwalk Augusta
— AugustaGA.gov {{coord missing, Georgia (U.S. state) Geography of Augusta, Georgia Parks in Georgia (U.S. state) Tourist attractions in Augusta, Georgia

History

See also

References

External links