Athens is aconsolidated city-county in the U.S. state ofGeorgia. Downtown Athens lies about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of downtownAtlanta.[6] TheUniversity of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and anR1 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 withClarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County, where it is thecounty seat.[7]
City Hall on College Avenue in Downtown Athens, seen across Washington Street
The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus weremade 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 ofBenjamin Franklin, 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.[17] The university and town continued to grow withcotton mills fueling the industrial and commercial development. Athens became known as the "Manchester 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, theGeorgia, connecting Athens toAugusta by 1841, and to Marthasville (nowAtlanta) 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.[18]
During theAmerican Civil War,[19] 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.[20] AConfederate memorial that used to stand on Broad Street near the University of Georgia Arch was removed the week of August 10, 2020.[21]
DuringReconstruction, 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.[22] 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 theFreedmen's Bureau. This new population was served by three black newspapers: theAthens Blade, theAthens Clipper, and theProgressive Era.[23]
In the 1880s, as Athens became more densely populated, city services and improvements were undertaken. The AthensPolice Department was founded in 1881 andpublic schools opened in the fall of 1886. Telephone service was introduced in 1882 by theBell Telephone Company. Transportation improvements were also introduced with a street paving program beginning in 1885 andstreetcars, pulled by mules, in 1888.
Broad Street in Downtown Athens at an entrance to North Campus of theUniversity of Georgia
By the centennial in 1901, Athens had experienced a century of development and growth. A newcity hall was completed in 1904. AnAfrican-Americanmiddle class 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.[24] The theater at the Morton Building hosted movies and performances by black musicians such asLouis Armstrong,Cab Calloway, andDuke Ellington. In 1907, aviation pioneerBen T. Epps became Georgia's first pilot on a hill outside town that would become theAthens-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.[25]
DuringWorld War II, theU.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 theNavy Supply Corps school. The school was inNormaltown in the buildings of the oldNormal School. It closed in 2011 under theBase Realignment and Closure process. The 56-acre site is now home to the Health Sciences Campus, which contains the University of Georgia/Medical College of Georgia Medical Partnership, the University of Georgia College of Public Health, and other health-related programs.[26]
In 1961, Athens witnessed part of the civil rights movement whenCharlayne Hunter andHamilton Holmes became the first two black students to enter the University of Georgia.[27] Despite theBrown vs. Board of EducationSupreme Court ruling in 1954, the Athens–Clarke County school district remained segregated until 1964.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the balance has a total area of 118.2 square miles (306.1 km2), of which 117.8 square miles (305.1 km2) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) (0.41%) is water.
Athens lies within thehumid subtropical climate zone, with hot, humid summers and mild to moderately cold winters. Annual rainfall averages 49.7 inches (1,260 mm). Light to moderate sporadic snowfall occasionally can occur in winter. In the spring, sporadicthunderstorms can occasionally become severe, rarely producingtornadoes. The city sits on a series of hills, unique to thePiedmont region.
Athens has ahumid subtropical climate.[47] Its climatic regime is typical of that of theSoutheastern United States, with hot summers transitioning into cool winters, with precipitation consistently high throughout the year. Normal monthly temperatures range from 43.5 °F (6.4 °C) in January to 80.6 °F (27.0 °C) in July; on average, maxima reach 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and stay below 40 °F (4 °C) on 58 and 5.8 days annually, and there are 48 days annually with a minimum at or below freezing.[48]
Official record temperatures range from −4 °F (−20 °C) onJanuary 21, 1985 to 109 °F (43 °C) onJune 29, 2012;[48] the record cold daily maximum is 18 °F (−8 °C) on January 30, 1966, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 79 °F (26 °C) as recently as August 11, 2007.[48] Temperatures rarely fall below 10 °F (−12 °C), having last occurred January 7, 2014.[48] The average window for freezing temperatures is November 5 to March 24, allowing a growing season of 225 days.[48]
Precipitation is relatively well spread (though the summer months are slightly wetter), and averages 46.3 inches (1,180 mm) annually, but has historically ranged from 28.61 in (727 mm) in 1954 to 71.39 in (1,813 mm) in 1964.[48] Snowfall is sporadic, averaging 2.9 inches (7.4 cm) per winter, but has reached 13.6 inches (34.5 cm) in 2010–2011.[48]
Climate data for Athens, Georgia (Ben Epps Airport), 1991–2020 normals,[49] extremes 1893–present
Athens-Clarke County unified government, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 United States census, there were 127,315 people, 51,640 households, and 23,615 families residing in the city. As of thecensus[5] of 2010, there were 100,266 people, 39,239 households, and 19,344 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.5 inhabitants per square mile (328.8/km2). There were 41,633 housing units at an average density of 353.6 units per square mile (136.5 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 64.71%White, 27.37%Black orAfrican American, 0.21%Native American, 3.15%Asian, 0.04%Pacific Islander, 3.11% fromother races, and 1.41% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 6.39% of the population.
The large population increase from 1990 to 2000 reflects the city's expanded boundaries that came with the consolidation of Athens and Clarke County, and not merely an influx of new residents. Since that time the population has increased an average of 12.7% every ten years.
There were 39,239 households, of which 22.3% had children under 18 living with them, 32.3% weremarried couples 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, 17.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 31.6% was from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% was 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. Theper capita income for the balance was $17,103. About 15.0% of families and 28.6% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over.
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.[69]
Legislative: Thegovernment is headed by an electedmayor and 10 electedcommissioners from 10 equally divided districts. Previously, they have been formed from 8 geographical districts and two 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, andSuperior Courts. Superior Court covers the Western Judicial Circuit, which also includesOconee County.[70]
TheAthens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD) was formed by the merger of thelaw enforcement agencies of the City of Athens and Clarke County. As of October 2022[update], Jerry Saulters was sworn in as the new Chief of Police.[71] ACCPD is accredited by theCommission 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 theState of Georgia.[72]
Downtown Athens at the intersection of Clayton Street and College Avenue
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 Boehringer-Ingelheim 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.[73]
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.[74]
This section'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: Data is more than 12 years old.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2022)
In 2010, the average household rent in Athens was $962. The national average was $1,087.[75] Of the Athens population 25 years of age or older, 39.3% have earned a bachelor's degree or higher.[76]
TheGeorgia 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.
The "Tree That Owns Itself", which is now an offspring of the original tree, is at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets; between 1820 and 1832 the property owner deeded to it the ownership of itself and its surrounding land.[77]
TheGeorgia Museum of Art, the official state museum of art, at the University of Georgia
The Globe bar was voted byEsquire magazine as the bar ranked third highest in America in 2007[79]
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[80]
Sandy Creek Park is a 782-acre park that surrounds 260-acre Lake Chapman and includes a beach and swimming area with over 28,000 square feet of sand, kayaks, canoes, hiking, boat ramp, fishing, picnic tables, grills, accessible playgrounds, dog park, and other amenities.[81][82][83]
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, Danger Mouse, Drive-By Truckers,The Elephant 6 Recording Company,Hall Johnson,Neal Pattman, Pylon, R.E.M., Vic Chesnutt, and Widespread Panic.[86][87]
AthFest is a free annualmusic andarts festival, first held in 1997. The festival spans three days in the downtown area during the summer, and planning for the event begins in November.[88] The first Athens Music Festival (Athfest) was organized by the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and the Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA). Jared Bailey was hired to manage the event. In 2009, AthFest became the 501(c)3 non-profit AthFest Educates, which seeks to advance high-quality music and arts education for local youth and the Athens community through direct support of school and community-based programs and events, including an annual music and arts festival. In 2010, AthFest Educates started the annual AthHalf Half Marathon as an additional fundraiser.[89][90]
The 2020 event, the 24th year of the festival, had been deferred to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, making it the first time in 23 years that the festival was cancelled.[91][92] However, in September 2021, the festival was cancelled again for the second year in a row due to continuing concerns of public health from the pandemic.[93]
TheClarke 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).[94] The district has 791 full-time teachers and 11,457 students as of 2010[update].[95]
Augusta University (AU) through its Medical College of Georgia has aMedical Partnership[99] with the University of Georgia housed at the University of Georgia Health Science Campus,[100] and the AU College of Nursing has had a campus in Athens[101] since 1974.[102]
Piedmont University, a private liberal arts institution, established a campus in Athens in 1995[103][104] that now is on Prince Avenue[105] in the Normaltown neighborhood.[106]
College of Athens (CoA) is a private Christian college that was established in 2012. CoA currently offers certificates, undergraduate, and graduate degrees in nine various major areas.[107]
Athens is part of the Atlanta television market. Two Atlanta-market television stations,WGTV (channel 8) andWUVG (channel 34), are licensed to Athens, though their transmitters are in the Atlanta metropolitan area. WGTV broadcasts from the top ofStone 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 nearToccoa, its city of license; what is nowWGTA has since moved its studios back to Toccoa after being sold by UGA.
Amateur radio has a long history in Athens. The Athens Radio Club 2-meter repeater operates on 145.330 MHz with a (-) offset and a PL tone of 123.0/123.0. Its antenna is located at 390’ AGL on a tower in the northern part of the city.[108] The Athens Radio Club is affiliated with theAmerican Radio Relay League and sponsors four community events each year.[109]
The 1940 filmThe Green Hand was shot in Athens, using local townspeople and students and faculty from theUniversity of Georgia as its cast. The film had its premiere in Athens in January 1940, at an event attended by GovernorEurith D. Rivers.
The 1980 TV seriesBreaking Away was filmed in Athens.
The city is the focus of U.S. HighwaysU.S. Route 29 (US 29),US 78,US 129,US 441, andGeorgia State Route 72 (SR 72), and near the eastern terminus ofSR 316 and the southern terminus ofSR 106. Other state routes in Athens areSR 8 andSR 15, which follow US 29 and US 441 respectively,SR 10 which follows US 78 east and west of Athens but deviates toUS 78 Bus. to go through Athens, andSR 15 Alt. which starts at theSR 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 alimited-access 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 fromdowntown. 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.
Athens-Ben Epps Airport (FAA code AHN) has been operational since 1917. It is east of downtown outsideGeorgia State Route 10 Loop and north ofUS Route 78. As of 2025 it has no scheduled airline service, but was last served bySeaPort Airlines toNashville in 2014. Athens' airport would qualify for air service to be provided under theEssential Air Service (EAS) provisions, but failed to meet the minimum daily passenger threshold of ten per day.[114]Georgia Skies and Wings Air provided commercial air service toAtlanta.US Airways flights operated byAir Midwest provided service toCharlotte unitl 2008.[115] Atlanta is the primary point of departure and arrival for Athenians due to the relative lack of air service to Athens.[116]
Athens encourages the use of alternative transportation. Bike lanes are provided on major thoroughfares. A rail-to-trail redevelopment is being considered to connectDowntown with the East Side. Organizations such asBikeAthens support and encourage biking. Skateboarding and small scooters are also common sights around the UGA campus and Downtown.
Athens Transit provides fare-free, intracity transit seven days per week.[119]UGA Campus Transit provides fare-free transit around theUniversity of Georgia campus, Milledge Avenue and Prince Avenue on the way to UGA's newest campus, the Health Sciences Campus.[120] Southeastern Stages, a subsidiary ofGreyhound Lines,[121] provides intercity bus services.[122] Low cost curbside bus service to Atlanta and Charlotte is also provided byMegabus.
Athens has no direct passenger rail service; the closestAmtrak stations are inAtlanta,Gainesville, andToccoa. Until the 1950s and 1960s theSeaboard Air Line Railroad's dailyCotton Blossom (ended, 1955), Washington - Atlanta,Silver Comet, New York - Birmingham andTidewater (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 theSilver Comet in 1969.[123][124] Until the early 1950s, theSouthern Railway ran a passenger service toLula on the Southern's main line northeast of Gainesville.[125][126] Into the same period, theCentral Railroad of Georgia ran mixed passenger and freight trains south to Macon'sTerminal Station.[127][128]
Passenger service is proposed to return to Athens via a proposed route of theCharlotte toAtlanta segment of theSoutheast High Speed Rail Corridor.[129] The alignment with a proposed station stop in Athens was chosen as this segment's preferred alternative on September 30, 2020.[130]
Electric service in Athens-Clarke is provided by three customer-owned electric cooperatives, Walton EMC, Rayle EMC, andJackson EMC, as well as byGeorgia Power, a subsidiary ofSouthern 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 is supplied byAtlanta Gas Light through various marketers within the deregulated market.
Athens is served by two major hospitals, the 359-bedPiedmont Athens Regional and the 170-bed St. Mary's Hospital.[134] The city is also served by the smaller 42-bed Landmark Hospital of Athens.[135] Piedmont Athens Regional was formerly Athens Regional Medical Center before being acquired by Piedmont Healthcare in 2016.[136] 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[137] 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.[138]
St. Mary's Hospital was founded in 1906 and became a Catholic hospital in 1938. The hospital became St. Mary's Health Care System in 1993. Today, St. Mary's is part ofTrinity Health, one of the nation's largest non-profit Catholic healthcare systems that includes 93 hospitals in 26 states and includes St. Mary's Hospital in Athens, nearby 56-bed St. Mary's Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia, Ga., and 25-bed St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro, Ga.
The City of Athens maintains trade development programs, cultural, and educational partnerships in atwinning agreement withBucharest, Romania.[139] Has ties to the Ukrainian city ofKamianets-Podilskyi.
^Hale, Grace Elizabeth. Cool Town How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020.
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^"Station: Athens Ben EPPS AP, GA".U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedMay 24, 2021.
^"Station: Athens Ben EPPS AP, GA".U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1981-2010). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. RetrievedMay 24, 2021.
^Brown, Rodger Lyle.Party Out of Bounds: The B-52's, R.E.M., and the Kids Who Rocked Athens, 25th Anniversary edition, Published in association with the University of Georgia Music Business Program, The University of Georgia Press. Athens: [Georgia], 2016.
Conoly Hester; Albert L. Hester (1999).Athens, Georgia: Celebrating 200 Years at the Millennium. Montgomery, Ala.: Community Communications.ISBN978-1-885352-28-6.
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