Augusta is Georgia's second-largest city behind Atlanta, and it's the second-oldest city behind Savannah.
It was founded in 1736 by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe and was named in honor of Princess Augusta, the wife of Fredrick, Prince of Wales.
From its temperate climate to the year-round beauty of its parks and gardens, there's a lot to draw newcomers to Augusta - the Garden City.
With nearly half a million residents, Augusta has a variety of amenities including a vibrant arts community and many fine restaurants.
And unlike other growing cities in the Southeast, the area has fewer of the traffic snarls and air pollution restrictions plaguing so many metropolitan areas.
The magazine Where to Retire has ranked Augusta No. 4 among the nation's low-cost cities for retirement.
This is partially based on the area's low cost of living and proximity to the respected health community and its many physicians and top hospitals.
In addition to the low cost of living and affordable housing, Augusta offers its residents a beautiful historic city with a diverse culture, active arts community and mild climate.
These are only some of the reasons that more than 16,000 retiree family members from Fort Gordon call Augusta home.
Augusta also has several professional sports teams, including the Augusta Lynx, an East Coast Hockey League team affiliated with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes, and the Augusta GreenJackets, a minor league (Single A) baseball team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox
Augusta is also proud host each spring to the Masters Golf Tournament, the sport's most prestigious event.
When it comes to golf courses, Augusta and the surrounding area boast 21 private and 15 public courses.
Water recreation is also prominent. Several state parks dot the area, including Elijah Clark and Mistletoe state parks. Thurmond Lake is the one of the largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River, with a 1,200-mile shoreline that is longer than the entire U.S. eastern seaboard.
Government, the health care industry and manufacturers are the largest employers in Richmond County.
The U.S. Army's Fort Gordon military post has the most employees with 11,500 workers.
Companies such as the Medical College of Georgia, University Hospital, Avondale Mills and E-Z-Go Textron employ the largest percentage of Augusta's work force, as do International Paper Co., Thermal Ceramics and the city and local school system.
Services, followed by retail trades, are the county's largest employment sectors, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
IT'S A FACT: Augusta is 140 miles east of Atlanta, on the South Carolina border in east central Georgia. Downtown Augusta sits beside the Savannah River, making the nearby South Carolina cities of North Augusta and Aiken a major part of the community even though they are in another state. The Aiken-Augusta metropolitan area also includes Columbia County, a booming suburban community west of Augusta.
