AUGUSTA, Ga. — James Oglethorpe’s role in founding Georgia is well-known. For instance, many people readily know Oglethorpe founded Savannah in 1733.
But what many may not realize is that two years after he founded Savannah, Oglethorpe sent troops up the Savannah River with the command to build at the head of the navigable portion of the river to serve as an inland trading post. That settlement is today known as Augusta, a name Oglethorpe selected in honor of Princess Augusta, who was married to the Prince of Wales.
So, in 2003, city leaders unveiled a $10,000 statue of the “Father of Georgia” who so greatly influenced not only Augusta, but Georgia as a whole.
The statue — of Oglethorpe in his mid 30s, his age when he founded the city — is located in the Augusta Common. Oglethorpe’s 1736 plan for the city “called for a large common area in the city’s center,” although it took about two centuries for the common area to appear, The Augusta Chronicle reported in 2003.
Jeffrey and Anna Koh Varilla sculpted the 200-pound statue, which features Oglethorpe holding the Georgia charter in one hand and a sword in the other. The statue is located in the Augusta Common along Broad Street between 8th and 9th streets – about 50 yards away from the statue of another famous Augusta resident, James Brown, the “The Godfather of Soul.”
“Oglethorpe seemed to be a highly dignified person,” The Augusta Chronicle in February 2003 quoted Mr. Varilla as saying. “I hope that kind of feeling kind of exudes from the sculpture.”
