Richmond County is located in the state of Georgia in the U.S. As of the 2020 census, the population was 206,607. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created on February 5, 1777. Following an election in 1995, Augusta (the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

) consolidated governments with Richmond County. The consolidated entity is known as Augusta-Richmond County, or simply Augusta. Exempt are the cities of Hephzibah and Blythe, in southern Richmond County, which voted to remain separate. Richmond County is included in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA- SC metropolitan statistical area.

History

The county is named for Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, a British politician and office-holder sympathetic to the cause of the American colonies. Richmond was also a first cousin to King George III. Richmond County was established in 1777 by the first Constitution of the (newly independent) State of Georgia. As such, it is one of the original counties of the state. It was formed from a portion of the colonial Parish of St. Paul after the Revolution disestablished the Church of England in the (former) Royal Province of Georgia.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. The vast majority of Richmond County is located in the Middle Savannah River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin, with just the southwestern corner of the county, from a line running north from Blythe through the middle of Fort Eisenhower, located in the Brier Creek sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.

Adjacent counties

* Edgefield County,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

(north) * Aiken County,

(northeast) * Burke County (south) * Jefferson County (southwest) * McDuffie County (west) * Columbia County (northwest)

Pedestrians and cycling

* Augusta Canal Historic Trail * New Bartram Trail * Phinizy Swamp Constructed Wetlands Trail * River Levee Trail * Riverwalk Augusta Trail

Communities

Cities

* Augusta (county seat) * Blythe * Hephzibah

Army installation

* Fort Eisenhower

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 206,607 people, 68,361 households, and 42,363 families residing in the county.

Politics

Similar to most urban counties in the state with majority African American populations, Richmond County has backed the Democratic Party candidate by increasing margins since 1992. However, in every presidential election from 1952 to 1988 which did not have Georgian Jimmy Carter on the ballot, the county backed the Republican candidate for president. In 1968 it was one of only eight counties in Georgia where George Wallace came in third. Prior to 1952, the county voted like a typical Solid South county, voting for Democratic presidential candidates by landslide margins until backing Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948. 1928 was an exception to this rule with

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

beating Al Smith handily due to anti-Catholic sentiment.

Transportation

Major highways

* * * * ** * * * * * * ** * * * * *

Education

All of Richmond County is in the Richmond County School System.
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Notable people

* David E. Twiggs * John Twiggs * Levi Twiggs

References

External links

Official website of Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110814220946/http://dot.state.ga.us/maps/Documents/County%20maps/Richmond.pdf Georgia Department of Transportation map of Richmond County(Note: map uses pre-consolidation city boundaries) {{Coord, 33.36, -82.07, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1777 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1777 Augusta metropolitan area Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Georgia