Old Augusta Historic Site

Old Augusta Historic Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Mississippi Landmark
Aerial view of Historic Site
Old Augusta Historic Site in Mississippi Show map of Mississippi Old Augusta Historic Site (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Perry County, Mississippi
Coordinates	31°13′28″N 89°02′59″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.

History

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]

Historic Site

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.

References

1. "Mississippi Landmarks" (PDF). Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
2. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form (Old Augusta Historic Site) Retrieved 2014-11-12
3. Geographic Names Information System (Old Augusta, Mississippi) Retrieved 2014-11-12
4. Dunbar Rowland (ed). 1907. Encyclopedia of Mississippi History: comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions and persons (Volume I) Retrieved 2014-11-13
5. Perry County Chancery Court—History of Perry County, Mississippi Retrieved 2014-11-13
6. "Land Patents in Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, McCain Library and Archives". Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
7. Young, Mary Elizabeth (1961). Redskins, Ruffleshirts, and Rednecks. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 155. ISBN 0-8061-3435-6.
8. Pitts, J.R.S. 1874. Life and Bloody Career of the Executed Criminal, James Copeland. Pilot Publishing Co., Jackson, MS. (Available at Internet Archive [1]) Republished as: Pitts, J.R.S. 1909. Life and Confession of the Noted Outlaw James Copeland. (Available at Google Books [2]) Republished as: Pitts, J.R.S. and J.D.W. Guice. 1992. Life and Confession of the Noted Outlaw James Copeland. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.
9. Mississippi Rails Retrieved 2014-11-15
10. Howe, Tony. "Old Augusta Railroad". Mississippi Rails. Retrieved June 10, 2023.