Athens (Georgia)

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Athens
Nickname : Classic City, The Classic
City Hall Athens
City Hall Athens
Athens in Clark County
Athens in Clark County
Basic data
Foundation : 1806
State : United States
State : Georgia
County : Clarke County
Coordinates : 33 ° 57 ′  N , 83 ° 23 ′  W Coordinates: 33 ° 57 ′  N , 83 ° 23 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Inhabitants :
-  Metropolitan Area :		 123,371 (as of 2016)
205,290 (as of 2016)
Population density : 404.5 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 306.2 km 2  (approx. 118 mi 2 ) of
which 305.0 km 2  (approx. 118 mi 2 ) are land
Height : 228 m
Postal code : 30603
Area code : +1 706 762
FIPS : 13-03440
GNIS ID : 354407
Website : www.athensclarkecounty.com
Mayor : Kelly Girtz

Athens is a city in the US state of Georgia . The city is located on the Oconee River on the Piedmont Plateau in the northeast of the state.

In 1991 the city of Athens merged with Clarke County and formed a consolidated city-county , which has been jointly administered since then. The city is the center of the Athens – Clarke County metropolitan area .

Map of Athens

history

Before Athens got its name, it was a riverside settlement and was called "Cedar Shoals" ("Cedar" means "cedar" and "Shoals" means "shoals"). On January 27, 1785, the Georgia Parliament approved the establishment of a new state-sponsored university. With the construction of the university from 1801, the city of Athens was created, the name of which was chosen based on the Center for Culture and Education of Antiquity. In 1806 Athens officially got city rights and Athens was called the " Manchester of the South" because it was very much characterized by the textile industry and trade.

In 1833, James Camak and his business partners built the first rail line between Athens, Atlanta and Augusta . This railway line made it even easier to move goods from Athens to Atlanta. Five railway lines ran through Athens, making the city an important meeting point for farmers who sold their agricultural products here. During the Civil War , General Sherman destroyed some of the newly built tracks, but his troops did not attack Athens.

After the Civil War , Athens was able to flourish again relatively quickly, as many wealthy business people had previously deposited their money in European banking institutions. Athens was also the meeting point for many freed slaves: the Freedmans Bureau established schools for blacks and there were three newspapers published by African-Americans . They were called "The Athens Blade", "The Athens Clipper" and "The Progressive Era".

The intersection of Washington Street and Hull Street was known as the Hot Corner because it was an important meeting place for the African American community. The Morton Building, Samaritan Building, and Union Hall had a large number of African American lawyers, dentists, doctors, and other businesses. The Morton building was u. a. a very successful opera house known for its acoustics. Famous jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong , Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington have also performed there.

During the Second World War Athens had one of the five naval schools in America. Modern buildings, leisure facilities and the first paved airstrip were built.

politics

Legislature: The government is headed by an elected mayor and ten elected commissioners. The MPs represent eight constituencies and two total constituencies (super-districts), which contain constituencies 1-4 and 5-8.

Executive: the day-to-day business is carried out by a manager elected by the mayor and the MPs.

education

University of Georgia Chapel

Athens is the seat of the University of Georgia . As a university with over 32,000 students, it is formative for the city. Many tourists come to Athens for the university's American football team. Called the Georgia Bulldogs, this team is one of the best football teams in college football . Athens football games take place at Sanford Stadium . Sanford Stadium has over 92,746 seats, making it the fifth largest stadium in the country. These games take place on Saturdays; the football season runs from September to January. Some of the pairings for the 1996 Summer Olympics football competitions were played at Sanford Stadium.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is 1.27 km 2 large Botanical Garden , which is operated by the University of Georgia. The University of Georgia Campus Arboretum is also located on the university campus and is open to visitors daily without admission.

Culture and entertainment

The city of Athens was nicknamed "The Classic City". The offers for leisure activities and entertainment are diverse. There is a state art museum, the Georgia Museum of Art . The Classic Center , which is used for operas, concerts and ballets, is located in the center of Athens .

Athens is known nationwide for its varied music scene. In Georgia Theater known bands such as occurred REM , The Police , Sea Level and Widespread Panic on. Above all, there are many music clubs in Athens. Many bands are attracted to Athens because of the many music clubs and the liberal university scene.

The Athfest is an annual music festival that takes place in the historic city center. Only bands from Athens perform at this three-day festival; As part of this folk and street festival, locals and tourists are also given other information about music.

Athens is also known for its wide variety of pubs, nightclubs and restaurants. Athens city center is the area south of Prince Avenue, Dougherty Street, and North Avenue; north of Broad Street and the University of Georgia; east of Milledge Avenue; and west of Foundry Street. In the city center there are over 40 pubs and music clubs as well as 55 restaurants. It is the cultural hub of the city. About 10% of tourists visit Athens for the city center music scene.

music

The city is known for the University of Georgia and the music scene it created, which has spawned bands like REM , The B-52s , the Indigo Girls , Vic Chesnutt and Widespread Panic .

Because of these world-famous musicians, the music magazine Rolling Stone named Athens 2003 top of all university cities for rock music (" # 1 Campus Scene That Rocks ").

New or less famous bands are Maserati , DJ Danger Mouse , Azure Ray , Bomb the Music Industry! , Drive-By Truckers , Jucifer , Five Eight , Big Atomic (Catfish Jenkins), Kevn Kinney , Macha, Now It's Overhead , and Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9) .

Bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel , of Montreal , Elf Power and The Olivia Tremor Control emerged from the musicians' association The Elephant 6 Recording Company . College students' favorite bands include Modern Skirts , Hope for agoldensummer , Packway Handle Band , Telenovela and DJs Krush Girls .

Athens also has plenty of hangouts and venues for bands. The most famous are 40Watt and Georgia Theater , which promote up- and- coming bands. In the Classic Center there are mostly bands that are already known nationally or internationally. Smaller venues include TastyWorld, The Melding Point, Caledonia, DT's Downunder and many others.

All of the city's musicians are featured on an annual list from Flagpole Magazine , an alternative weekly paper.

Buildings

The City Hall, built in 1904 , and various historic buildings of the University of Georgia are some of the most famous buildings in the city. A total of 58 buildings and sites are registered in Athens on the National Register of Historic Places (as of February 17, 2020):

Reference number designation location annotation date
80000989 Athens Factory Baldwin and Williams St. July 31, 1980
02001634 Athens Manufacturing Company 585 While Circle December 31, 2002
88002021 Athens Warehouse Historic District roughly bounded by Hancock and Thomas St. and the railway line October 20, 1988
72000375 Bishop House Jackson St., University of Georgia campus March 16, 1972
85000850 Bloomfield Street Historic District roughly bounded by Bloomfield and Peabody St., University Campus, Rutherford St. and Milledge Ave. April 18, 1985
85000851 Boulevard Historic District roughly bounded by the tracks of the Seaboard Coastline Railroad, Pulaski St., Prince Ave. and Hiawassee St. April 18, 1985
01000642 Brightwell Shotgun Row 366-376 Barber St. June 14, 2001
99001029 Buena Vista Heights Historic District roughly bounded by Park Ave., Prince Ave., Pound St., and Nantahala Extension August 27, 1999
75000576 Camak House 279 Meigs St. 07th July 1975
75000577 Carnegie Library Building 1401 Prince Ave. November 11, 1975
74002255 Albon Chase House 185 N. Hull St. 19th August 1974
84003873 Chestnut Grove School 610 Epps Bridge Rd. June 28, 1984
75000578 Church-Waddel-Brumby House 280 E. Dougherty St. 20th February 1975
80000990 Clarke County Jail Courthouse Sq. May 29, 1980
75000579 TRR Cobb House 194 Prince Ave. June 30, 1975
79000705 Cobb-Treanor House 1234 S. Lumpkin St. 0May 8, 1979
78000973 Cobbham Historic District roughly bounded by Prince Ave., Hill, Reese, and Pope St. August 24, 1978
05001594 Coca-Cola Bottling Plant-Athens 297 Prince Ave. 0February 1, 2006
79000706 Ross Crane House 247 Pulaski St. June 18, 1979
75000580 Dearing Street Historic District roughly bounded by Broad and Baxter St., Milledge Ave., includes both sides of Finley St. and Henderson Ave. a 05th September 1975
79000707 Albin P. Dearing House 338 S. Milledge Ave. 0May 8, 1979
78000974
06000737
84000965 		Downtown Athens Historic District roughly bounded by Dougherty St., Thomas St., Hickory St., Broad St., South St. and Pulaski St. Was expanded in 1984 and 2006, some areas were excluded in 2006 August 10, 1978
May 31, 1984
August 18, 2006
80000991 First African Methodist Episcopal Church 521 N. Hull St. March 10, 1980
74000667 Franklin House 464-480 E. Broad St. December 11, 1974
72000376 Garden Club of Georgia Museum-Headquarters House, Founder's Memorial Garden Lumpkin St., University of Georgia April 26, 1972
06000285 Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery 530 Fourth St. April 19, 2006
76000613 Henry W. Grady House 634 Prince Ave. May 11, 1976
79000708 Dr. James S. Hamilton House 150 S. Milledge Ave. April 24, 1979
72000377 Lucy Cobb Institute campus 200 N. Milledge Ave., University of Georgia campus March 16, 1972
72000378 Gov. Wilson Lumpkin House Cedar St., University of Georgia campus March 16, 1972
75000581 Joseph Henry Lumpkin House 248 Prince Ave. June 27, 1975
85000852 Milledge Avenue Historic District Milledge Ave. between Broad St. and Five Points April 18, 1985
85000859 Milledge Circle Historic District Milledge Park, Lumpkin St., Milledge Circle, and Milledge Ave. April 18, 1985
79000709 Morton Building 199 W. Washington St. October 22, 1979
02000759 Newton House 892 Prince Ave. July 11, 2002
87001360 Oglethorpe Avenue Historic District Oglethorpe Ave. 05th November 1987
72000379 Old North Campus, University of Georgia bounded by Broad, Lumpkin and Jackson St. March 16, 1972
08000442 Hubert Bond Owens House 215 W. Rutherford St. May 14, 2008
82002394 Calvin W. Parr House 277 Bloomfield St. 0September 9, 1982
77000416 Parrott Insurance Building 283 E. Broad St. 07th October 1977
72000380 President's House 570 Prince Ave. March 16, 1972
87001990 Reese Street Historic District roughly bounded by Meigs, Finley, Broad, and Harris St. November 10, 1987
96000875 Rocksprings Shotgun Row Historic District 433–447 Rocksprings St. Shotgun Houses of Athens – Clarke County MPS 23rd August 1996
74000668 James A. Sledge House 749 Cobb St. February 12, 1974
91002003 RP Sorrells House 220 Prince Ave. January 22, 1992
79000710 Thomas-Carithers House 530 S. Milledge Ave. 0May 8, 1979
73000616 Upson House 1022 Prince Ave. 15th November 1973
76000614 Ware-Lyndon House 293 Hoyt St. March 15, 1976
07001000 West Cloverhurst Avenue Historic District W. Cloverhurst Ave. between Springdale St. and S. Milledge Ave. September 27, 2007
88000227 West Hancock Avenue Historic District roughly bounded by Hill, Franklin, Broad St. and the Plaza March 30, 1988
70000202 Wilkins House 387 S. Milledge Ave. May 19, 1970
87001390 Woodlawn Historic District Woodlawn Ave. October 23, 1987
87000696 Young Women's Christian Association Complex 345-347 W. Hancock St. May 12, 1987

Sports

The university's sports teams, named “Bulldogs” after their mascot (often spelled and pronounced “Bulldawgs”), are organized in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of NCAA Division 1-A. The best known and most popular is the American football team, which plays in the over 92,746-seat Sanford Stadium on campus. The games taking place there are considered "between the hedges" because of the rain willow hedges that have been there since it was opened in 1929. In 1980 the team won the national college championship with running back Herschel Walker .

Tailgating is a tradition where spectators from large parts of Georgia come to eat, drink beer and make friends hours before an American football game .

But “Bulldogs” teams were national college champions in other sports as well, such as men's golf (1999 and 2005), women's golf (2001), men's tennis (1985, 1987, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007), Women's tennis (1994, 1995, 2000, 2002), apparatus gymnastics (1987, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2005, 2006 and 2007), equestrian sports (2003 and 2004), women's swimming & artificial jumping (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005 ) and baseball (1990).

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta , the Stegeman Coliseum held the rhythmic gymnastics competitions and the preliminary rounds of the Olympic volleyball tournament, and the finals of the soccer competitions were held in the Sanford Stadium .

The university's mascot is a well-known English bulldog, Uga (UH-GUH). Frank W. Seiler has owned this line since 1956 and every Uga is the son of the last Uga. Perhaps the most famous was Uga Uga V, who starred in the movie " Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ".

Every April, Athens hosts the famous Twilight professional cycling race . It is a race on a short circuit, mostly less than 3 miles, that takes place on the streets of the city center. When Athens Twilight was founded in 1980, it was the first night-time race in the US in the sixties. The race is also a two-day festival with music and children's entertainment; The festival has over 30,000 spectators every year.

Economy and Infrastructure

With a low unemployment rate of 3.4% (as of February 2007) Athens is within the top 50 metropolitan areas in the USA . However, the city has a low per capita income of US $ 24,000 (€ 17,647), which is only 57% of the national median income.

The city's largest employer is the University of Georgia with 9,795 employees. Most jobs are in education and health care. According to Cities Ranked and Rated (2004 edition), Athens ranks 34th out of all American cities for quality of life.

Between 2000 and 2005 there was an increase of 9.3% in jobs. On the Forbes List of Best Places For Small Businesses published in 2006 by Forbes Magazine , Athens ranks 31st for the best smaller business locations. The median home price is roughly $ 160,000, slightly above the nationwide average.

The city has the Classic Center at its disposal as a trade fair and exhibition site with a floor space of around 6,500 square meters.

traffic

In 1841 the first railroad arrived in Athens. The first tram line ran in 1885. Athens is one of the endpoints of Georgia State Route 316 .

Worth knowing and strange things

The "Son of The Tree That Owns Itself"
  • The " Tree That Owns Itself " is a tree that is its own owner. It is an American white oak ( Quercus alba ). The tree is on the corner of Dearing Street and Finley Street. Between 1820 and 1832 a Colonel William Henry Jackson allegedly "gave the tree its freedom". The original tree died in 1942 and was replaced on December 5, 1946 by a new specimen pulled from a seed of the old tree, which is therefore more correctly called "Son of The Tree That Owns Itself".
  • Athens has colorful, larger-than-life statues of bulldogs , the university's mascot. There are 36 of these bulldog statues donated by the Athens-Oconee Junior Women's Club. Linda Ford and Julie Waters came up with the idea to raise funds for charitable causes.
  • The music magazine Rolling Stone has named Athens the "# 1 College Music Scene in America".
  • The newspaper The New York Times has called Athens "Live Music Central".
  • In Athens there is a double barrel cannon that was built during the American Civil War and is in front of the City Hall. With it two cannonballs connected with an iron chain should be fired as a double projectile. A test shot was fired during the Civil War; the two bullets destroyed a field and a chimney and killed a cow.
  • There is a large archway at the entrance to the university, which is the symbol of the university. There is a superstition that anyone who walks through the archway is not going to graduate from college. The superstition began around 1910 when Daniel Huntley vowed Redfearn not to go under the archway until he left university.
  • The well-known Cafe Jittery Joe's was founded in Athens in 1994. The original location was next to the 40 watt nightclub and the cafe was open 24/7. There are now three Jittery Joe's in Athens (in the University's Student Learning Center, Eastside and in the “Five Points” district). The cafe also sponsors a cycling team.

sons and daughters of the town

Town twinning

literature

  • Grace Elizabeth Hale: Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2020, ISBN 978-1-4696-5487-4 .

References

  1. ^ City of Athens. History. Athens-Clarke County, accessed July 3, 2019 (American English): "Athens was no more than a trading settlement on the banks of the Oconee River called Cedar Shoals during the late 1700s."
  2. ^ City of Athens. History. Athens-Clarke County, accessed July 3, 2019 (American English): "On January 27, 1785, the Georgia General Assembly chartered the University of Georgia as the first chartered state-supported university."
  3. ^ City of Athens. History. Athens-Clarke County, accessed July 3, 2019 (American English): “Milledge purchased 633 acres from Daniel Easley on July 25, 1801, and donated it to the university. He named the land Athens in honor of the Greek city that was the center of culture and learning during ancient times. "
  4. ^ City of Athens. History. Athens-Clarke County, accessed July 3, 2019 (American English): “As the university began to grow in reputation around the state, commerce and industry, mainly from the cotton mills, sprung up as Athens became known as the Manchester of the South for its pioneering cotton technology. "
  5. ↑ City of Athens History ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.athensclarkecounty.com
  6. ^ Unification of Athens & Clarke County. History. Athens-Clarke County, accessed July 4, 2019 (American English): "The new government would be run by a head elected official (now titled mayor) and 10 commissioners."
  7. ↑ General Info About Athens-Clarke County ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.athensclarkecounty.com
  8. ↑ Georgia Law - Campus and Community Life ( January 16, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ Campus Scenes That Rock. (PDF; 2.1 MB) Rolling Stone , February 20, 2003.
  10. ^ Bomb the Music Industry
  11. ↑ Jucifer
  12. ↑ Five Eight
  13. ↑ Big Atomic
  14. ↑ Kevn Kinney
  15. ↑ Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9)
  16. ↑ See website .
  17. ↑ Elf Power website at myspace.com
  18. ↑ The Olivia Tremor Control website at myspace.com
  19. ↑ website Modern Skirts at myspace.com
  20. ↑ website Hope for agoldensummer at myspace.com
  21. ↑ Packway Handle Band website at myspace.com
  22. ↑ Telenovela website at myspace.com
  23. ↑ DJ's Krush Girls website at myspace.com
  24. ↑ 40 watts
  25. ^ Georgia Theater
  26. ^ Flagpole Magazine
  27. ↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed February 17, 2020.
    Weekly List on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed February 17, 2020.
  28. ^ University of Georgia Championships , at georgiadogs.com
  29. ↑ georgiadogs.com: Georgia Bulldogs - Athletics ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed April 29, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.georgiadogs.com
  30. ↑ Twilight Criterium
  31. ↑ Forbes List of Best Places For Small Businesses http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/5/2716.html
  32. ^ Athens, GA - Tree that Owns Itself
  33. ↑ Athens Georgia Live Music home to REM, B-52's, hundreds of new live bands
  34. ↑ Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau: Official Athens Georgia events, attractions, weekend getaways, vacations, and hotel reservations - ( Memento of July 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  35. ↑ University of Georgia: History ( Memento of the original from August 23, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uga.edu
  36. ↑ Jittery Joe's Coffee

Web links

Commons : Athens, Georgia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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