Augusta Becomes Georgia's State Capital

In 1786, Georgia's legislature designated Augusta as the state capital, replacing Savannah. The decision reflected Savannah's destruction and depopulation during the British occupation and the wartime period: the city had been burned, its economy disrupted, and its Loyalist and Patriot populations reshuffled by the years of occupation. Augusta, which had been the seat of Patriot government in exile during the British occupation of Savannah, was the natural successor.

Augusta remained the state capital until 1796, when the legislature moved to Louisville, Georgia, closer to the center of the state's expanding population. But the decade as capital cemented Augusta's importance as a political and commercial center of the new state.