Augusta has a rich history dating as far back as the early 1700s. The settlement was established in 1736 by British General James Oglethorpe, and named in honor of the bride of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales. Built on the flat slopes of the Savannah River, in the area now known as Summerville, Augusta was also home to many neighboring tribes of Creek and Cherokee Indians.
Augusta served as the state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795, and has many historically significant homes and buildings, such as the Cotton Exchange, established in 1872; the boyhood home of Woodrow Wilson (28th president of the United States); Ezekiel Harris House (1797); George Walton home (signer of the Declaration of Independence) and Springfield Baptist Church, the oldest African American church in America.