Richmond County is located in the state of Georgia in the U.S. As of the 2020 census, the population was 206,607. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created on February 5, 1777. Following an election in 1995, Augusta (the county seat) consolidated governments with Richmond County. The consolidated entity is known as Augusta-Richmond County, or simply Augusta. Exempt are the cities of Hephzibah and Blythe, in southern Richmond County, which voted to remain separate. Richmond County is included in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC metropolitan statistical area.
History
The county is named for Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, a British politician and office-holder sympathetic to the cause of the American colonies. Richmond was also a first cousin to King George III.
Richmond County was established in 1777 by the first Constitution of the (newly independent) State of Georgia. As such, it is one of the original counties of the state. It was formed from a portion of the colonial Parish of St. Paul after the Revolution disestablished the Church of England in the (former) Royal Province of Georgia.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water.
The vast majority of Richmond County is located in the Middle Savannah River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin, with just the southwestern corner of the county, from a line running north from Blythe through the middle of Fort Gordon, located in the Brier Creek sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.
Adjacent counties
- Edgefield County, South Carolina (north)
- Aiken County, South Carolina (northeast)
- Burke County (south)
- Jefferson County (southwest)
- McDuffie County (west)
- Columbia County (northwest)
Pedestrians and cycling
- Augusta Canal Historic Trail
- New Bartram Trail
- Phinizy Swamp Constructed Wetlands Trail
- River Levee Trail
- Riverwalk Augusta Trail
Communities
Cities
- Augusta (county seat)
- Blythe
- Hephzibah
Army installation
- Fort Gordon