Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and

college town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

in the U.S. state of

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 t ...

. Athens lies about northeast of downtown

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, and is a

satellite city Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have ...

of the capital. The

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, the state's flagship public university and an R1 research institution, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the original City of Athens abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County. As of 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau's population of the consolidated city-county (all of Clarke County except Winterville and a portion of Bogart) was 127,315. Athens is the sixth-largest city in Georgia, and the principal city of the Athens metropolitan area, which had a 2020 population of 215,415, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Metropolitan Athens is a component of the larger Atlanta–Athens–Clarke County–Sandy Springs Combined Statistical Area. The city is dominated by a pervasive

culture and music scene centered in downtown Athens, next to the University of Georgia's North Campus. Major music acts associated with Athens include numerous

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

bands such as R.E.M.,

the B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

, of Montreal,

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie roc ...

, and

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

. The city is also known as a recording site for such groups as the Atlanta-based Indigo Girls. The 2020 book ''Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture'' describes Athens as the model of the indie culture of the 1980s.

History

In the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the

Oconee River The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it join ...

called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is today. On January 27, 1785, the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

granted a charter by Abraham Baldwin for the

as the first state-supported university. Georgia's control of the area was established following the Oconee War. In 1801, a committee from the university's board of

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s selected a site for the university on a hill above Cedar Shoals, in what was then Jackson County. On July 25, 1801,

John Milledge John Milledge (1757February 9, 1818) was an American politician. He fought in the American Revolution and later served as United States Representative, 26th Governor of Georgia, and United States Senator. Milledge was a founder of Athens, Georgi ...

, one of the trustees and later governor of Georgia, bought from Daniel Easley and donated it to the university. Milledge named the surrounding area

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

after the city that was home to the

Platonic Academy The Academy (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Classical Athens, Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum. The Academy ...

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

and

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." (Thomas R. Martin ...

The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus were made from logs. The town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school. By the time the 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. Completed in 1806 and named in honor of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

, Franklin College was the first permanent structure of the University of Georgia and the city of Athens. This brick building is now known as Old College. Athens officially became a town in December 1806 with a government made up of a three-member commission. The university and town continued to grow with

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s fueling the industrial and commercial development. Athens became known as the "

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

of the South" after the city in England known for its mills. In 1833 a group of Athens businessmen led by James Camak, tired of their wagons getting stuck in the mud, built one of Georgia's first railroads, the

, connecting Athens to Augusta by 1841, and to Marthasville (now

) by 1845. In the 1830s and 1840s, transportation developments and the growing influence of the University of Georgia made Athens one of the state's most important cities as the Antebellum Period neared the height of its development. The university essentially created a chain reaction of growth in the community which developed on its doorstep. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Athens became a significant supply center when the New Orleans armory was relocated to what is now called the Chicopee building. Fortifications can still be found along parts of the North Oconee River between College Avenue and Oconee Street. In addition, Athens played a small part in the ill-fated "Stoneman Raid" when a skirmish was fought on a site overlooking the Middle Oconee River near what is now the old Macon Highway. A

Confederate memorial Confederate monuments and memorials in the United States include public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials Removal ...

that used to stand on Broad Street near the University of Georgia Arch was removed the week of August 10, 2020. 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, and Henry Beusse was elected as the first mayor of Athens. Beusse was instrumental in the city's rapid growth after the Civil War. After serving as mayor, he worked in the railroad industry and helped bring railroads to the region, creating growth in many of the surrounding communities. Freed slaves moved to the city, where many were attracted by the new centers for education such as the Freedmen's Bureau. This new population was served by three black newspapers: the ''Athens Blade'', the ''Athens Clipper'', and the ''Progressive Era''. In the 1880s, as Athens became more densely populated, city services and improvements were undertaken. The Athens

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

Department was founded in 1881 and

public schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

opened in the fall of 1886. Telephone service was introduced in 1882 by the

Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company – the New Engl ...

. Transportation improvements were also introduced with a street paving program beginning in 1885 and

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

s, pulled by mules, in 1888. AthensGeorgiaStreetScene2008 05 s 03

By the centennial in 1901, Athens had experienced a century of development and growth. A new

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

was completed in 1904. An

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Co ...

and the professional class grew around the corner of Washington and Hull Streets, known as the "Hot Corner", where the Morton Building was constructed in 1910. The theater at the Morton Building hosted movies and performances by black musicians such as Louis Armstrong,

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocali ...

, and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

. In 1907 aviation pioneer Ben T. Epps became Georgia's first pilot on a hill outside town that would become the Athens-Ben Epps Airport. The last, and perhaps only, lynching in Athens occurred on February 16, 1921, when a mob of 3,000 people attacked the Athens courthouse and carried off John Lee Eberhart. Eberhart had been arrested for the murder of his employer, Ida D. Lee, with a shotgun in Oconee County. That night he was driven back to the Lee farm where a mock trial was held. Though he refused to confess, he was tied to a stake and burned to death. The lynching received widespread attention. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the U.S. Navy built new buildings and paved runways to serve as a training facility for naval pilots. In 1954, the U.S. Navy chose Athens as the site for the

Navy Supply Corps The Navy Supply Corps is the United States Navy staff corps concerned with supply, logistics, combat support, readiness, contracting, and fiscal matters. Duties Commissioned officers in the Supply Corps practice a variety of disciplines, includ ...

school. The school was in Normaltown in the buildings of the old

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

. It closed in 2011 under the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the en ...

process. The site is now home to the University of Georgia/Medical College of Georgia Medical Partnership, the University of Georgia College of Public Health, and other health-related programs In 1961, Athens witnessed part of the civil rights movement when Charlayne Hunter and

Hamilton Holmes Hamilton E. Holmes (8 July 1941 – 26 October 1995) was an American orthopedic physician. He and Charlayne Hunter-Gault were the first two African-American students admitted to the University of Georgia. Additionally, Holmes was the first Af ...

became the first two black students to enter the University of Georgia. Despite the ''

Brown vs. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling in 1954, the Athens–Clarke County school district remained segregated until 1964.

Timeline

* 1801 ** Franklin College opens. ** Clarke County formed from part of Jackson County. * 1806 - Town of Athens incorporated. * 1808 - ''Georgia Express'' newspaper begins publication. * 1810 ** Jackson Street Cemetery in use (approximate date). ** Population: 273. * 1832 - '' Southern Banner'' newspaper in publication. * 1834 -

Camak House Camak House, at 279 Meigs Street, Athens, Georgia, was built in about 1834 by James Camak and featured in Georgia's early railroad history. An example of Federal architecture, it has a number of features unusual for its period, including a kitch ...

and

T. R. R. Cobb House The T. R. R. Cobb House built in 1842 is an historic octagon house originally located at 194 Prince Avenue in Athens, Georgia. On June 30, 1975, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The original part of the home of Thomas ...

built (approximate date). * 1841 - Railroad begins operating. * 1842 -

Joseph Henry Lumpkin House The Joseph Henry Lumpkin House was built in the 1830s, and purchased by its namesake, the first chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, in 1842. Early history Built in the 1830s by Charles H. McKinley, the house was originally a much sma ...

built. * 1850 - Population: 1,661. * 1856 ** Oconee Hill Cemetery established. ** Benjamin H. Hill House built. * 1859 -

Lumpkin Law School The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law schools in continuous ...

and Lucy Cobb Institute (girls school) established. * 1870 - Population: 4,251. * 1871 - Athens becomes seat of Clarke County. * 1872 ** City of Athens incorporated. ** State School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts opens. * 1882 - Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery established. * 1883 - Synagogue built. * 1891 ** Electric streetcar begins operating. ** Ladies Garden Club organized. * 1895 -

State Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

opens. * 1896 - Electric lighting introduced. * 1900 - Population: 10,245. * 1903 - University of Georgia College of Pharmacy founded. * 1904 - City Hall built. * 1906 - School of Forestry founded. * 1908 - Southern Mutual Insurance Company building constructed. * 1910 -

Morton Theatre The Morton Theatre, located in downtown Athens, Georgia, at 195 West Washington Street, is one of the first vaudeville theatres in the United States uniquely built, owned, and operated by an African-American businessman: Monroe Morton. In 2001 ...

in business. * 1912 -

School of Commerce A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

founded. * 1914 ** Reese Street School was founded. ** Clarke County Courthouse built. * 1917 - Athens Ben Epps Airport opens. * 1921 - Lynching of John Lee Eberhart * 1924 - Athens Country Club founded. * 1928 - WTFI radio begins broadcasting. * 1929 - University's

Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is ...

opens. * 1932 -

begins administering previously separate colleges of agriculture, education, law, etc. * 1938 ** WGAU

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

begins broadcasting. **

University of Georgia Press The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and ...

established. * 1940 - Population: 20,650. * 1948 - Georgia Museum of Art opens. * 1949 - State Farmers Market established near Athens. * 1954 - Prince Avenue Drive-In cinema in business. * 1958 - Athens Area Vocational-Technical School founded. * 1959 - Athens Historical Society organized. * 1963 - Beechwood Shopping Center in business. * 1965 - ''Daily News'' in publication. * 1971 -

Clarke Central High School Clarke Central High School (CCHS) is located in Athens, Georgia, United States. In 1970, Clarke County schools were desegregated, and the high school for black children, Burney-Harris High School (formerly Athens High and Industrial School), and ...

opens. * 1976 ** Athens Transit bus begins operating. **

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

musical group formed. * 1977 -

Georgia Theatre Georgia Theatre is a live music venue and event space in Athens, Georgia. Many prominent national and local acts across all genres have performed at the Theatre, including rock, folk, country, indie, alternative, hip hop and electronic. The venue i ...

in business. * 1979 - Pylon musical group begins performing. * 1980 ** Georgia Square Mall in business. ** R.E.M. musical group formed. * 1987 -

Athens-Clarke County Correctional Institution Athens-Clarke County Correctional Institution is located in Athens, Georgia in Clarke County, Georgia, right next to the Athens Ben Epps Airport Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital ...

built. * 1990 - Population: 45,734. * 1991 - Governments of Athens and Clarke County consolidate. * 1992 - Athens-Clarke County Library's Heritage Room (for local history) established. * 1996 - Part of 1996 Summer Olympics takes place in Athens. * 2000 ** City-county website online (approximate date). ** Population: 100,266. * 2001 ** Athens Institute for Contemporary Art founded. ** ''

Athens Banner-Herald The ''Athens Banner-Herald'' is a daily newspaper with less than 20,000 circulation located in Athens, Georgia, USA, and owned by Gannett. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name ''Online Athens''. It has been through ...

'' newspaper in publication. * 2007 -

Paul Broun Paul Collins Broun Jr. (born May 14, 1946) is an American physician and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the Tea Party Caucus. Broun unsuccess ...

becomes U.S. representative for

Georgia's 10th congressional district Georgia's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. The district is currently represented by Republican Jody Hice, and includes a large swath of urban and rural territory between Atlanta and Augus ...

. * 2010 - Population: 115,452. * 2011 - Nancy Denson becomes mayor. * 2015 - Jody Hice becomes U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the balance has a total area of , of which is land and (0.41%) is water. Athens lies within the humid subtropical climate zone, with hot, humid summers and mild to moderately cold winters. Annual rainfall averages . Light to moderate snowfall can occur in winter. In the spring, frequent

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

s can sometimes become severe, even producing

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

es. The city itself sits on a series of anomalous hills, unique to the

Piedmont region it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Climate

Athens has a humid subtropical climate. Its climatic regime is in many ways typical of

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern po ...

with hot summers transitioning into cool winters, but with precipitation being consistently high throughout the year. Normal monthly temperatures range from in January to in July; on average, maxima reach or higher and stay below on 58 and 5.8 days annually, and there are 48 days annually with a minimum at or below freezing. Official record temperatures range from on January 21, 1985 to on June 29, 2012; the record cold daily maximum is on January 30, 1966, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is as recently as August 11, 2007. Temperatures rarely fall below , having last occurred January 7, 2014. The average window for freezing temperatures is November 5 to March 24, allowing a growing season of 225 days. Precipitation is relatively well spread (though the summer months are slightly wetter), and averages annually, but has historically ranged from in 1954 to in 1964. Snowfall is sporadic, averaging per winter, but has reached in 2010–2011.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 127,315 people, 51,640 households, and 23,615 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 100,266 people, 39,239 households, and 19,344 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 41,633 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 64.71%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 27.37%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.21% Native American, 3.15% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 3.11% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 6.39% of the population. The large population increase from 1990 to 2000 reflects the altered boundaries that came with the consolidation of Athens and Clarke County, not just the influx of new residents. There were 39,239 households, of which 22.3% had children under 18 living with them, 32.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.7% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was spread out, with 17.8% under the age of 18, 31.6% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,118, and the median income for a family was $41,407. Males had a median income of $30,359 versus $23,039 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the balance was $17,103. About 15.0% of families and 28.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

In 1990, the City of Athens and Clarke County voters voted to unify their governments, becoming only the second unified government in Georgia and the 28th nationwide. *Legislative: Th
government
is headed by an electe
mayor
and 10 electe
commissioners
from 10 equally divided districts. Previously, they have been formed from 8 geographical districts and 2 super-districts covering districts 1–4 and 5–8 *Executive: The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County's day-to-day operations is overseen by a manager appointed by the Mayor and Commission. There are 24 main departments, divisions, and offices under the managerial group. *Judicial: Athens-Clarke County houses Magistrate, Juvenile, Municipal, Probate, State, and Superior Courts. Superior Court covers the Western Judicial Circuit, which also includes Oconee County.

Law

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD) was formed by the merger of the

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

of the City of Athens and Clarke County. , Cleveland Lee Spruill Sr. was sworn in as the new Chief of Police. ACCPD is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and was named a "Gold Standard Agency" in 2013. ACCPD's 911 Communications Center is also CALEA certified and has reached "Gold Standard" status. ACCPD is also the first law enforcement agency certified by the

State of Georgia Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the we ...

Economy

Businesses

Athens, Georgia - Clayton Street Intersection

Athens is home to a growing number of young technology companies including Docebo, Roundsphere, and Cogent Education. The city is also home to more established technology companies such as Partner Software, Peachtree Medical Billing, and Digital Insight. Athens is home to several pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotechnology companies such as Merial and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The University of Georgia also hosts its own biotechnology research centers mostly from the lower east side of town bordering Oconee county. In May 2020, RWDC Industries, a company that develops alternatives to single-use plastics, announced its plan to invest $260 million into the city and the surrounding area and acquire an existing 400,000-square-foot facility. Independent publisher

Hill Street Press Hill Street Press is an independent publisher with a focus college trivia books and 100% thematic crossword puzzle books. The company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, was established in 1998 by Tom Payton and Judy Long. Books published by Hill Street ...

is headquartered here. Authors with previous, or current, residence in the city include Pulitzer Prize winners

Deborah Blum Deborah Blum (born October 19, 1954) is an American science journalist and the director of the Knight Science Journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

and Edward Larson, as well as Judith Ortiz Cofer, Reginald McKnight, Coleman Barks, and Jon Jefferson. Athens' music industry has also continued to grow as Tweed Recording acquired an 11,000-square-foot facility in downtown Athens to house their new recording studio, academy, and community space.

Tourism

Each spring, there are bicycle races collectively known as the

Twilight Series The Twilight Series is an annual road cycling race that takes place in the spring in Athens, Georgia, United States, since 1980. During the course of each Twilight weekend, competitive events in a variety of fields are staged, including BMX racin ...

. One of these races is the Athens Twilight Criterium.

Competitiveness

In 2010, the average household rent in Athens was $962. The national average was $1,087. Of the Athens population 25 years of age or older, 39.3% have earned a bachelor's degree or higher.

Arts and culture

The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has been, since 1982, the official state art museum. Culture coexists with the university students in creating an art scene, music scene, and intellectual environment. The city has music venues, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that cater to its creative climate.

Points of interest

* One of the remaining two double-barreled cannons produced during the

is here * The " Tree That Owns Itself", which is now an offspring of the original tree * The Georgia Museum of Art, the official state museum of art, at the University of Georgia * The State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia * The University of Georgia Campus & Arboretum * St. Mary's Church steeple, all that remains of the site of the first show by what became R.E.M. * The Globe bar was voted by ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' magazine as the bar ranked third highest in America in 2007 * Founded in 1955, Allen's was Athens' oldest bar and grill despite closing in 2004, re-opening in 2007, and closing again in November 2011 * Sandy Creek Park *

Memorial Park Memorial Park may refer to either a public park dedicated in memorial to an event, or a cemetery (modern term for such): Parks ; Australia * Bulimba Memorial Park, Bulimba, Brisbane, Queensland * Toowong Memorial Park, Toowoong, Brisbane, Queen ...

Music

The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of

and new wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and

The B-52s The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

, and several long-time indie /rock hip-hop groups. The Athens music scene grew in the early 1970s and later during the 1980s with the

and

40 Watt Club The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in Athens, Georgia. Along with CBGB, the Whisky a Go Go, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and new wave music. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numero ...

as the aforementioned bands scored breakout hits. Other notable bands were

, Dreams So Real, Indigo Girls,

Vigilantes of Love Vigilantes of Love is an American rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee, with many secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia, United States. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallone ...

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/ power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 199 ...

The Method Actors The Method Actors were an American post-punk/ new wave musical group from Athens, Georgia, United States, founded by Vic Varney and David Gamble in 1979 while at the University of Georgia. Discography Singles and EPs *''This Is It'' 7" ep: "The ...

Love Tractor Love Tractor (1980–current) is a band from Athens, Georgia, founded in spring 1980 by guitarists Mark Cline and Mike Richmond, and bassist Armistead Wellford, students at the University of Georgia. Like The B-52's, Pylon and R.E.M., Love Trac ...

, Pylon, Flat Duo Jets,

The Primates The Primates were one of the original post-punk / rock bands to come out of Athens, Georgia in the mid 1980s. Their loud, fast in-your-face hedonistic style was reminiscent of West Coast bands X and The Minutemen, but peppered with a definite ...

, Modern Skirts, The Whigs, Squalls,

Drive-by Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

, Futurebirds, Bloodkin, Randall Bramblett,

Vic Chesnutt James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, ''Little'', was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the release of '' Sweet ...

, Tishamingo, Bubba Sparxxx],

Dead Confederate Dead Confederate was an American alternative rock band, formed in Augusta, Georgia and based in Athens, Georgia. The band's sound was described as a mix of alternative country, psychedelic rock and grunge, and has drawn comparisons to Nirvana and ...

, and Corey Smith. In his insider book, ''Party Out of Bounds: The B-52's, R.E.M., and the Kids Who Rocked Athens,'' Rodger Lyle Brown described the indie rock scene in Athens. National acts that have come out of Athens include: The Whigs, Reptar,

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse may refer (or appear in) to: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series * Danger Mouse (musician) (born ...

, Dreams So Real, Jucifer,

Servotron Servotron was a science fiction-influenced rock band active from 1995 to 1999. Members portrayed a collective of robots whose chosen medium for dissemination of ideas was music. They claimed to spread the word of robot domination, encouraging mac ...

, Elf Power,

, Lera Lynn, The Sunshine Fix, Colt Ford, Brantley Gilbert,

, The Olivia Tremor Control, of Montreal,

Perpetual Groove Perpetual Groove (or PGroove) is an American rock band that originated in 1997 in Savannah, Georgia. PGroove incorporated a mix of traditional Southern rock, funk, jazzy improvisation, indie rock and synth loops. The members continue to work on s ...

, Five Eight,

, Thayer Sarrano, Jet by Day, and

Mothers ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ge ...

. R.E.M. members

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Po ...

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., ...

and

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his c ...

still maintain residences in Athens. The photo book ''Athens Potluck'', by

Jason Thrasher Jason Thrasher is an American photographer with a special focus on musicians. He was honored for his 2017 book, ''Athens Potluck'', as a 2018 Georgia Author of the Year. His work has been exhibited at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, th ...

, documents the town's musical legacy. Every summer since 1996 the city has hosted AthFest, a nonprofit music and arts festival in the downtown area. In September 2020, the city launched the Athens Music Walk of Fame. The public art walk spans a two-city blocks loop around West Washington and Clayton Streets connected by North Lumpkin Street. Guitar pick plaques were laid on the sidewalk in front of significant music venues like the Georgia Theatre, the 40 Watt Club, and the Morton Theatre. The first round of inductees included The B-52s,

, Drive-By Truckers, The Elephant 6 Recording Company,

Hall Johnson Francis Hall Johnson (March 12, 1888 – April 30, 1970) was an American composer and arranger of African-American spiritual music. He is one of a group—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who had great success p ...

Neal Pattman Neal Pattman (January 10, 1926 – May 4, 2005) was an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Sometimes billed as Big Daddy Pattman, he is best known for his self-penned tracks, "Prison Blues" and "Goin' Back To Georgia ...

, Pylon, R.E.M., Vic Chesnutt, and Widepread Panic.

Education

Clarke County School District

The Clarke County School District supports grades pre-school to grade twelve. The district consists of fourteen elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools (one non-traditional). The district has 791 full-time teachers and 11,457 students .

Private schools

Athens Academy The Academy of Athens ( el, Ακαδημία Αθηνών, ''Akadimía Athinón'') is Greece's national academy, and the highest research establishment in the country. It was established in 1926, with its founding principle traces back to the ...

(grades K-12) * Athens Christian School (grades K-12) * Athens Montessori School (grades K-8) * Downtown Academy (grades K-3) * Joy Village (grades K-8) * Saint Joseph Catholic School (grades K-8) * Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School (grades 9–12) * Double Helix STEAM School (grades 5–8) * Al Huda Islamic Center of Athens Sunday School (5 years and older) ArchUGA1

Colleges and universities

* The

(UGA), the state's flagship public research university, is the oldest and 3rd largest institution of higher learning (behind

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

and

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fo ...

.) in Georgia. Founded in 1785, it was the first state-chartered university in the United States. *

Athens Technical College Athens Technical College ("Athens Tech") is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1958 as Athens Area Vocational-Technical School. The school was renamed Athens Area Technical Institute in ...

is a Technical College System of Georgia public college. It offers certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees in business, health, technical, and manufacturing-related fields. *

Augusta University Augusta University (AU) is a public research university and academic medical center in Augusta, Georgia. It is a part of the University System of Georgia and has satellite medical campuses in Savannah, Albany, Rome, and Athens. It employs over ...

(AU) through its Medical College of Georgia has
Medical Partnership
with the University of Georgia housed at the University of Georgia Health Science Campus, and the AU College of Nursing has had a campus in Athens since 1974. * Piedmont College, since 2021 Piedmont University, established a campus in Athens in 1995. Piedmont announced that it would be moving its campus from the Cobbham neighborhood to Normaltown in January 2021. * Athens College of Ministry (ACMin) is a private Christian college that was established in 2012. ACMin currently offers certificates, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in eight various major areas.

Media

Newspapers

The ''

'' publishes daily. UGA has an independent weekly newspaper, '' The Red & Black''. ''

Flagpole Magazine ''Flagpole Magazine'', often abbreviated to simply ''Flagpole'', is an American alternative newsweekly that focuses on the cultural, liberal scene of Athens, Georgia, and its surrounding communities. Athens is known in Georgia and nationally ...

'' is an

alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...

publishing weekly. ''Classic City News'' is a not-for-profit local news source.

Radio and television

Local radio stations include: *

WPLP-LP WPLP-LP ("Bulldog 93.3") is a radio station licensed to Athens, Georgia, United States that airs an alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970 ...

Bulldog 93.3 FM is Athens' locally owned and operated adult album alternative station * WPUP 100.1 FM, Athens top 40 station featuring all of today's hits. Owned by

Cox Radio CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...

WMSL WMSL (88.9 FM) is a Christian radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian music format. Licensed to Bogart, Georgia, United States, the station serves the Athens / Northeast Georgia area. The station is currently owned by the Radio Train ...

88.9 FM, a

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

station featuring traditional Christian music and teaching * WUOG 90.5 FM, UGA's student-run radio station * WUGA 91.7 and 94.5 FM, an affiliate of

Georgia Public Broadcasting Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the ...

and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

also broadcasting from the UGA campus *

WPPP-LP WPPP-LP is a non-commercial low power FM radio station in Athens, Georgia, United States. Owned by the non-profit Athens Community Radio Foundation, Inc., the station reaches listeners within a 15-mile radius of its studios near the Universi ...

100.7 FM (Hot 100), a low-power, non-commercial alternative/progressive rock station *

WRFC (AM) WRFC (960 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Athens, Georgia. It airs a sports radio format, mostly using programming from ESPN Radio. Owned by Cox Media Group, the television and radio subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, the station is sis ...

960 AM,

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN" ...

(formerly Athens' local

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

music station during the 1960s and 1970s). Owned by

. * WGAU 1340 AM, news and

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

. Owned by Cox Radio. *

WXAG WXAG (1470 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an Urban Contemporary gospel format. Licensed to Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens li ...

1470 AM,

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

music Athens is part of the Atlanta television market. Two Atlanta-market television stations,

WGTV WGTV (channel 8) is a PBS member television station licensed to Athens, Georgia, United States, a legacy of the station's early years as a service of the University of Georgia (UGA). Owned by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission ( ...

(channel 8) and WUVG (channel 34), are licensed to Athens, though their transmitters are in the Atlanta metropolitan area. WGTV broadcasts from the top of Stone Mountain. From 2009 until 2015, UGA operated a television station, WUGA-TV (formerly WNEG-TV) from studios on the UGA campus, but maintained its transmitter near

Toccoa Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, United States, located about from Athens and about northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,133 as of the ...

, its city of license; what is now WGTA has since moved its studios back to Toccoa after being sold by UGA.

In popular culture

The 1940 film ''

The Green Hand ''The Green Hand'' is a 1940 short film about a young man whose path to juvenile delinquency is rerouted through his participation in the Future Farmers of America. The film was based on the 1932 novel by Paul W. Chapman, an agriculture professor ...

'' was shot in Athens, using local townspeople and students and faculty from the

as its cast. The film had its premiere in Athens in January 1940, at an event attended by Governor Eurith D. Rivers. The 1980 TV series '' Breaking Away'' was filmed in Athens. The movie '' Darius Goes West'' was shot in Athens. In 2000, the fictional Ithaca University scenes in ''

Road Trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances travelled by automobile. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by ...

'' were filmed on the North Campus of the University of Georgia. In 2012, '' Trouble with the Curve'' was partially filmed at The Globe in downtown Athens. In the same year, '' The Spectacular Now'' was filmed entirely in Athens and the surrounding area.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Highways

The city is the focus of U.S. Highways U.S. Route 29 (US 29), US 78, US 129, US 441, and

Georgia State Route 72 State Route 72 (SR 72) is a state highway that runs west-to-east through portions of Clarke, Madison, and Elbert counties in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. This route is part of a multi two-state route 72 that begi ...

(SR 72), and near the eastern terminus of SR 316 and the southern terminus of SR 106. Other state routes in Athens are SR 8 and SR 15, which follow US 29 and US 441 respectively, SR 10 which follows US 78 east and west of Athens but deviates to US 78 Bus. to go through Athens, and SR 15 Alt. which starts at the SR 10 Loop interchange at Milledge Avenue and follows Milledge and Prince Avenues to US 129 which it follows to the north. The SR 10 Loop serves as a

limited-access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

perimeter. The city is bisected east to west by Broad Street/Atlanta Highway (US 78 Bus. and SR 10) and north to south by Milledge Avenue (SR 15 Alt.). Lumpkin Street, Prince Avenue (SR 15 Alt.), North Avenue, and Oconee Street (US 78 Bus.) along with Broad Street are major thoroughfares radiating from

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. College Station Road and Gaines School Road are major thoroughfares on the east side of Athens, along with US 78 east (Lexington Road). On the west side, most major thoroughfares intersect US 78 Bus. (Broad Street/Atlanta Highway), including Alps Road/Hawthorne Avenue, Epps Bridge Parkway, and Timothy Road/Mitchell Bridge Road.

Airports

Athens-Ben Epps Airport (FAA code AHN) has been operational since 1917. It is east of downtown outside Georgia State Route 10 Loop and north of

US Route 78 U.S. Route 78 (US 78) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 715 miles (1,151 km) from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. From Byhalia, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama, US 78 is concurrent with Interstate ...

. AHN qualifies for air service to be provided under the Essential Air Service provisions. SeaPort Airlines provides commercial air service to

Nashville International Airport Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identifiers are derived. Th ...

, TN. Until 2012,

Georgia Skies GeorgiaSkies was an American commuter airline brand founded by Pacific Air Holdings to operate flights in Georgia after the airline was awarded an Essential Air Service contract to serve Athens and Macon, Georgia. The airline started fligh ...

and Wings Air provided commercial air service to

, and until 2008 (before either airline's current AHN service),

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

provided service to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) is the primary point of departure and arrival for Athenians due to the relative lack of air service to AHN.

Alternative Transportation

Athens encourages the use of alternative transportation. Bike lanes are provided on major thoroughfares. A rail-to-trail redevelopment is being considered to connect

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

with the East Side. Organizations such as

BikeAthens BikeAthens is a transportation choices organization based in Athens, Georgia. It is incorporated as, and originally known as, the Athens/Clarke Safe Cycling Association. BikeAthens is an affiliate group of Common Ground Athens. Mission The mis ...

support and encourage biking. Skateboarding and small scooters are also common sights around the UGA campus and Downtown.

Public Transit

Athens Transit provides intracity transit seven days per week.

UGA Campus Transit The University of Georgia Campus Transit system operates on the campus and vicinity of the university. Campus Transit has an average daily ridership of 39,765. The system also runs two shuttles on football home game days. All fixed routes are ...

provides fare-free transit around the

campus, Milledge Avenue and Prince Avenue on the way to UGA's newest campus, the Health Sciences Campus. Southeastern Stages, a subsidiary of

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...

, provides intercity bus services. Low cost curbside bus service to Atlanta and Charlotte is also provided by Megabus.

Rail

Athens has no direct passenger rail service; the closest

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

stations are in

, Gainesville, and

. Until the 1950s and 1960s the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

's daily ''Cotton Blossom'' (ended, 1955), Washington - Atlanta, '' Silver Comet'', New York - Birmingham and ''Tidewater'' (ended, 1968), Norfolk - Birmingham service made stops at the SAL's Athens depot at College Avenue and Ware Street, north of downtown. Train service to Athens ended with the last run of the ''Silver Comet'' in 1969. Until the early 1950s, the Southern Railway ran a passenger service to Lula on the Southern's main line northeast of Gainesville. Into the same period, the

Central Railroad of Georgia The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was cons ...

ran mixed passenger and freight trains south to Macon's

Terminal Station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

. Passenger service is proposed to return to Athens via a proposed route of the

segment of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. The alignment with a proposed station stop in Athens was chosen as this segment's preferred alternative on September 30, 2020. Freight service is provided by CSX and Athens Line, the latter having leased tracks from

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

. The

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developi ...

has proposed the city as the terminus of a commuter line that links

and Gwinnett County along the Georgia 316 corridor.

Utilities

Electric service in Athens-Clarke is provided by three customer-owned electric cooperatives, Walton EMC, Rayle EMC, and Jackson EMC, as well as by

Georgia Power Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consol ...

, a subsidiary of Southern Company. The water utility is provided by the city. Garbage is provided by private companies according to customer purchase, though the city does offer municipal garbage pick up as a service.

Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

is supplied by

Atlanta Gas Light Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGLC), commonly still known as Atlanta Gas Light (AGL), is the largest natural gas wholesaler in the Southeast U.S., and is the leading subsidiary of parent company AGL Resources. It was founded in 1856 and is headqua ...

through various marketers within the deregulated market.

Healthcare

Athens is served by two major hospitals, the 359-bed

Piedmont Athens Regional Piedmont Athens Regional (formerly known as Athens Regional Medical Center or ARMC) is a healthcare system located in Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state ...

and the 170-bed St. Mary's Hospital. The city is also served by the smaller 42-bed Landmark Hospital of Athens. Piedmont Athens Regional was formerly Athens Regional Medical Center before being acquired by Piedmont Healthcare in 2016. In March 2018, Piedmont Healthcare announced a $171 million capital investment project for Piedmont Athens Regional which would include the addition of a fourth story to the Prince 2 building as well as the demolition of the 100-year-old 1919 Tower to make space for a new, state of the art, seven-story tower. The entire project is slated for 2022 completion. St. Mary's Hospital was founded in 1906 and became a Catholic hospital in 1938. The hospital becam
St. Mary's Health Care System
in 1993. Today, St. Mary's is part of Trinity Health, one of the nation's largest non-profit Catholic healthcare systems and includes St. Mary's Hospital in Athens, 56-bed St. Mary's Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, Ga., and 25-bed St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro, Ga.

Sister cities

The City of Athens maintains trade development programs, cultural, and educational partnerships in a twinning agreement with

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Notable people

References

Bibliography

;Published in 19th century * * * ;Published in 20th century * (Reprinted in 1978 with additions) * * * * * * * James K. Reap, Athens: A Pictorial History (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning Communications, 1982). * 1996- * ;Published in 21st century * * * * *

External links

Athens-Clarke city/county government official site

Athens profile
Georgia Encyclopedia
Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia
by Ernest C. Hynds in th
Digital Library of Georgia

Athens Historical Society
* *
Ferrier, L. (2020, January 11). Why Athens, GA Deserves a Spot on Your Getaway Bucket List.
{{Authority control Athens – Clarke County metropolitan area Census balances in the United States Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Consolidated city-counties County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1806 Cities in Clarke County, Georgia 1806 establishments in the United States 1800s establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)