Richmond County was formed in 1774, but the city of Augusta was actually created some 40 years earlier. Establishing a list of earliest families is difficult since the first official census in Georgia did not occur til 1820. While censuses were done for Richmond County in 1790, 1800, and 1810, these were apparently burned by the British in the War of 1812. We have not found any census earlier than the 1830 for Richmond County. The city is further closely affiliated with the genesis of Edgefield County on the Carolina side of the river. Ft. Moore, located near Sand Bar Ferry was built in 1715 on the Carolina side of the River.
Augusta, Georgia was founded in 1735 as part of the then-British colony of Georgia, under the supervision of colony founder James Oglethorpe. It was the colony's second established town, after Savannah.