In 1776, Georgia's population was around 40,000. Today, it's ranked tenth among the states with a population of 8.6 million. From its mountains to rolling rivers, charming towns to the bustling metropolis of Atlanta, the Peach State offers plenty of features to visitors. The weather is generally mild in much of the state, with hot and humid summers and cool winters. Snowfall is rare except in the mountains.
Georgia's economy peaked in the 19th century due to its vast cotton and rice plantations fueled by slave labor, which made it one of the wealthiest Southern states. The Civil War and its aftermath were major turning points in the economic and social life of Georgia. The state was devastated during the war, and the abolition of slavery made an enormous impact on the economy. However, in recent decades, manufacturing and service industries have instituted a resurgence in the state's economy.
AUGUSTA
Augusta, the second oldest city in Georgia, was founded in 1736, just three years after Savannah. Antebellum charm and old-fashioned hospitality still characterize this classic Southern town. Many people know of Augusta because of the Masters Golf Championship, held each year at Augusta National Golf Course. Although a quiet town, Augusta has plenty of attractions.
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Augusta Riverwalk
Visitors should stroll along the winding Riverwalk — a six-block, scenic pathway down the Savannah River levee. As the central tourist hub, the Riverwalk area hosts numerous concerts and outdoor events year-round.
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Georgia Golf Hall of Fame’s Botanical Gardens
Encompassing approximately 17 acres along the banks of the Savannah River along Reynolds Street, the site includes eight acres of gorgeous display gardens. Sculptures of Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Raymond Floyd, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus all have permanent homes here.
http://www.gghf.org/
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Morris Museum of Art
The Morris Museum of Art, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, is home to a broad-based survey collection of Southern art. Housed in the August Riverfront Center, the museum is dedicated to exhibiting and exploring the art and artists of the South. .
The exhibition begins with the Antebellum period in a stately empire setting, and continues through galleries devoted to such themes as Civil War art, the Black Presence in Southern art, Southern Impressionism, early 20th century painting and contemporary works. The museum also features changing exhibitions.
http://www.themorris.org/
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The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of History and Conference Center
The mission of the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, located in Augusta, Georgia is to promote the legacy of Ms. Lucy Craft Laney, a great Georgia educator, through art and history. The home, located in the Historic Laney-Walker District of Augusta, was re-opened in 1991 as the only African-American Museum in the Central Savannah River Area. The facility includes a conference center, computer center and period garden. Human service programs include art and history exhibits, lectures and tours, the computer art and history program, Youth Leadership Academy and senior citizen programs.
http://www.lucycraftlaneymuseum.com/
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Sacred Heart Cultural Center
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, built by Jesuit priests, held its first service in 1900 and was closed in 1971. The magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling, the ninety-two stained glass windows in the building and the intricate brickwork make up this architectural gem.
After enduring years of vacancy, vandalism, and near destruction, this treasured historic site was reopened in 1987. The old Rectory building, the former Convent building, and the Sacred Heart School building (original church building, built in 1864) house the offices of local arts groups and other non-profit organizations.
Many special events including choral concerts, Christmas events, a unique garden festival, tours, are held at Sacred Heart. Works of local artists are exhibited in the Art Gallery and unique souvenirs including a collection of regional books are available for purchase in the Gift Shop.
http://www.sacredheartaugusta.org/
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SAVANNAH
When James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony of Georgia, set out to create an agricultural settlement on the Savannah River in 1733, he laid out the town based on an elaborate system of 24 public squares. Today the squares, shaded by live oaks and surrounded by stately houses, churches and the columned houses of government, define old Savannah, where shops and cafes occupy mansions and town houses, and tourists and locals stroll at a leisurely pace.
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Savannah, with a population of 131,000, is America’s first planned city and has become the country’s greatest urban historic preservation site. It was the largest city in Georgia until Atlanta overtook it in the 20th century.
Today Savanahh is a thriving industrial center and seaport. As the oldest city in the state it has retained much of its original beauty - more than a thousand of its buildings are historically important, many are nestled under giant live oaks hung with Spanish moss – and world-class restaurants, Civil War forts, art galleries, fine antique shops and other attractions combine to make Savannah a terrific place to explore, as many have discovered.
John Berendt awakened many readers' interest in the town with his descriptions in his bestselling book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", while popular travel writer Bill Bryson wrote of standing agog in Lafayette Square - "I did not know that such perfection existed in America".
Fort Pulaski National Monument Park
The defining events of Fort Pulaski occurred during the American Civil War. In April of 1862, Union troops directed rifled cannon fire at the fort breaching the southeast angle. The quick success of this experimental cannon surprised military strategists. The accuracy and range of the rifled cannon rendered brick fortifications obsolete. Immediately after capturing the fort, Union Major General David Hunter, an ardent abolitionist, ordered the release of area slaves. Many were recruited into the Union army comprising the First South Carolina Colored Regiment.
The park includes scenic marsh and uplands that support a variety of animal life characteristic of southern barrier islands. White-tailed deer, alligators, and raccoons as well as resident and migratory birds grace the landscape. Spanish moss drapes from yaupon holly bushes and vegetation includes cabbage palms, various wetland grasses, and a variety of temperate hardwood and pine trees.
http://www.nps.gov/fopu/local/
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River Street Marketplace
This one-of-a-kind, open-air market features more than 72 booths full of treasures, gifts, and services from across the globe. The River Street Market embodies Savannah's love of history and is reflected in its beautifully re-created sheds that stood on River Street in the mid 1800's.
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Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Georgia. Twin spires with chiming bells rise high above this French Gothic cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Savannah. Dedicated in 1876, it was destroyed by fire in 1898, then rebuilt from the original plans of architect Francis Baldwin. The interior is rich with Italian marble, Austrian stained glass and opulent Persian rugs.
http://www.savannahcathedral.org
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ATLANTA
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city of Georgia. The grand Atlanta of the Old South has given rise to a lively cosmopolitan center known as the "Capital of the New South." A young city, even by American standards, Atlanta is a bright, brash, aggressive town.
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From the beginning, Atlanta was in the South but not of the South. Founded as a rail terminus, ante-bellum Atlanta was a small, rough-and-ready railroad crossing. Its manners and mores were more like the frontier towns of the Old West than the mint julep and magnolia cities of the Old South. Transportation was, and still is, the catalyst for Atlanta’s growth and economic vitality.
From the beginning, Atlanta attracted men and women of vision---opportunists who had the foresight to provide the facilities that would make Atlanta the most important city in the Southeast.
Today, the population of the Atlanta metropolitan area is 4.7 million.
Georgia Aquarium
Billed as the World’s Largest Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium boasts eight million gallons of fresh and marine water, and more than 100,000 animals representing 500 species from around the globe. Trixie and Alice have made the Aquarium their new home after the Aquarium undertook the incredible task of transporting the two female whale sharks from one side of the world to another.
http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Birth Home Museum
Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in this two-story Queen Anne-style house on January 15, 1929, the oldest son of a Baptist minister and an elementary school music teacher. His childhood was a normal one. King lived here through the age of 12, and then moved with his family to a house a few blocks away. A visit provides many insights into the formative influences on one of the greatest leaders of our time.
The King family retained ownership of the house at 501 Auburn even after they moved away. King's younger brother, Alfred Daniel, lived here with his family from 1954 to 1963. In 1971, King's mother deeded the home to The King Center. It has since been restored to its appearance during the years of King's boyhood. The furnishings are all originals or period reproductions, and some personal items belonging to the family are on display.
Tours of the house, conducted by National Park rangers, begin in the downstairs parlor, where you'll see family photographs showing Martin Luther as a child. The parlor was used for choir practice, for the dreaded piano lessons, and as a rec room where the family gathered around the radio to listen to shows like "The Shadow." In the dining room, world events were regularly discussed over meals, and every Sunday, before dinner, each child was required to recite a newly learned Bible verse from memory. You'll also see the coal cellar (stoking coal was one of King's childhood chores); the children's play area; the upstairs bedroom of King's parents; Reverend Williams's den, where the family gathered for nightly Bible study; and the bedroom King shared with his brother.
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Ebenezer Baptist Church Museum
Two blocks west of the home is Ebenezer Baptist Church, the pastorate of Martin's grandfather and father. It was in these surroundings of home, church and neighborhood that King experienced his childhood, learned about family and Christian love, segregation in the days of "Jim Crow" laws, diligence and tolerance. It was to Ebenezer Baptist Church that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would return in 1960. As co-pastor with his father, "Daddy King", Dr. King, Jr. would preach about love, equality, and non-violence. Martin Luther King’s tomb is located at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Altlanta.
http://www.nps.gov/malu/
Atlanta’s High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta 's Midtown arts and business district, the High has over 11,000 works of art in its permanent collection.
In 1983, the Museum's Richard Meier-designed building opened to worldwide acclaim and received many design awards, including a 1991 citation from the American Institute of Architects as one of the “ten best works of American architecture of the 1980s.” Meier's 135,000-square-foot facility tripled the Museum's space, enabling the institution to mount more comprehensive displays of its collections. In 2005, three new buildings, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, more than doubled the Museum's size to 312,000 square feet.
http://www.high.org/
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Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
Located on 3,200 acres of natural beauty, Stone Mountain Park features a wide variety of fun family activities and things to do in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Stone Mountain is open year-round, but attraction hours vary by season
http://www.stonemountainpark.com/default.aspx
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State Capitol Building
One of the most recognizable features of the Atlanta skyline is Georgia's gold-domed state capitol, located several blocks southeast of the center of downtown. Although dwarfed by nearby skyscrapers, the dome glistens from the same hill that supported the first state capitol building in Atlanta.
Both a state and national treasure and built after the Civil War on the site of the old City Hall, it is constructed primarily of Georgia's own natural resources — marble, steel, iron and wood — with an exterior of Indiana limestone. The decision to use the state's own resources was meant to signal Georgia's independence and the quality of its products.
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Georgia World Congress Center
Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress Center is one of the world's finest convention, sports and entertainment venues. The GWCC campus consists of 1.4 million square feet of prime exhibit space, 105 meeting rooms, 2 grand ballrooms, the 71,500-seat Georgia Dome and 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park. Since it opened in 1976, the GWCC has hosted a wide variety of special events.
http://www.gwcc.com/
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome, the largest cable-supported domed stadium in the world, opened in 1992. Located in downtown Atlanta, the Dome is the home venue for the Atlanta Falcons, host to Super Bowl XXVII in 1994, host of the gymnastics and basketball events for the 1996 Olympic Games and host to the Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.
http://www.gadome.com/
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Centennial Olympic Park
Less than two decades ago, the Centennial Olympic Park neighborhood was a run-down part of town. That changed with the 1996 Olympic Games when it was converted into a gathering spot for visitors and residents. An estimated $75 million in development costs came entirely from private-sector donations.
Following the Olympic Games, a large portion of the park was closed and redesigned for daily public use. Today, this unique 21-acre park sponsors community-wide free events, including the Fourth of July Celebration, Wednesday Wind Down concert series and Fourth Saturday Family Fun Days.
The Park also hosts festivals, fundraisers and private events. These events, in addition to the normal day-to-day traffic, bring an estimated three million visitors to this urban oasis each year
http://www.centennialpark.com/
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Underground Atlanta
At the beginning of the 20th century Atlanta began to take on a new look. Following the Chicago School of architecture, multi-story skyscraper office buildings cropped-up in the downtown area, and the city became a business and retail center. In the 1920's, construction of concrete viaducts elevated the streets of downtown one level above the railroad tracks to facilitate traffic flow. Merchants moved their operations to the second floor, leaving the old storefronts for storage and service. These viaducts would create the unique cityscape that would later become Underground Atlanta.
After years of neglect, the “city beneath the city” was a diamond in the rough. Original storefronts with ornate marble, granite archways, cast-iron pilasters, decorative brickwork and hand-carved wood posts and panels were still intact
In 1989 the New Underground Atlanta opened for business at a cost of $142 million. Today, Underground Atlanta offers a complete family experience, with retail shops, special events, unique entertainment offerings, the Old Alabama Eatery food court, and fine restaurants. The total current size of Underground Atlanta is six city blocks - twelve acres. The retail shopping center consists of 225,000 square feet.
http://www.underground-atlanta.com/
Margaret Mitchell House
“Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides... there isn't going to be any war.” – Scarlett, from Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind.
Built in 1899 by Cornelius J. Sheehan, the two-story, single-family home on fashionable Peachtree Street was converted in 1919 into a 10-unit apartment building. It was here, from 1925 until 1932, that Margaret Mitchell lived in Apartment #1 and wrote her Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Gone With The Wind.
http://www.gwtw.org/
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