“Augusta’s Ghost Town” - The lost village of New Savannah
Lydias Assistant May 10th, 2007
Few locals know that approximately 15 miles below the rapids of the Savannah River, near the opening of Butler Creek, lies the forgotten remains of New Savannah Georgia.
In 1740, a tribe of Chickasaw Indians led by Chief Squirrel King moved from the Horse Creek Valley of what is now Aiken County in South Carolina. They chose to settle on the Georgia side of the river. Mostly peaceful farmers, by the start of the Revolution the tiny Indian town had a population of approximately 150 individuals.
As the Revolution closed a tobacco inspection station was set up in New Savannah. Leaf grown in the surrounding areas of Richland County and the Edgefield District (present day Aiken County) was packed in wooded barrels and transported to the town. The Georgia leaf arrived via Tobacco Road (hence the origin of the present day road) en route to the small hamlet. After inspection the barrels were sent downstream to the port of Savannah by barge.
ABOVE: A map of the Augusta area, from 1780, showing New Savannah downstream from Augusta, Georgia.
Tobacco lost it’s economic viability to King Cotton in the 1800s, and once that happened the small village blinked out of existence. Presently the New Savannah Lock and Dam is located approximately where the village once stood. I never knew the source of the name of the Lock until I heard the strange story of this lost Indian village.
ABOVE: Tobacco Road used to travel all the way to the Savannah River, ending at New Savannah. BELOW: Present day New Savannah, where Butler Creek meets the Savannah River.
Unfortunately, today no trace remains of New Savannah, although it’s location in many ways probably looks much the same way as it might have 200 years ago. The spot is relatively remote even in modern times.
- Historical
- Comments(0)
