Common - " ... a large void space which will be useful for a thousand purposes, and among the rest, as being airy and affording a fine prospect of the town in drawing near to it"
???—Sir Robert Montgomery, 1717
Providing a common area is a city planningidea that is nearly unique among thecolonial towns of the thirteen coloniesof America.
When General James Oglethorpeordered the first land survey ofAugusta he had future expansionin mind. He foresaw newarrivals of colonists and the general increase in population,and reserved a Common of 600acres around the town. Untilgrowth came, the common couldbe used for fortifications, as pasturefor cattle, sheep, and goats, "for theconvenience of Air," and "for the use ofthe future inhabitants."
The Augusta Common surrounded the fortylots of the original town and wasbounded by the outlying 50-acreTownship Lots. In present daygeography, it extended from theSavannah River south to presentday Laney-Walker Boulevard,east to Second Street and westto Eighth Street. It provided room for Augusta's expansionby rectangular blocks through the middle nineteenthcentury. Augusta's urban designform evolved over time, changingas the Common lands weresubdivided and granted out, and asthe rectilinear plan became cross-cut bycanals, railroads and highways.
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