Athens is a special place: a charming city with a small town vibe, welcoming people, a big university, and vibrant music, arts, entertainment, food and drink scenes. Here’s a brief introduction to Athens’ history and what it offers longtime “townies” and newcomers alike today.
How We Got Here
Athens and the University of Georgia have been intertwined from the beginning. In 1785, Georgia became the first state to charter a public university. Sixteen years later, trustee and future governor John Milledge purchased 633 acres from an early settler named Daniel Easley and donated it to the university. The trustees named the area “Athens,” referring to the cradle of philosophy in Greece.
By the 1820s, Athens had become a booming textile hub, powered by cotton mills and the nearby river. The university attracted wealthy families, professors, merchants, businessmen and more, many of whom lived in Athens’ first suburb called “Cobbam” after John A. Cobb, who owned and sold the first 80 lots of the burgeoning neighborhood in 1834. You can still see and visit historic homes in Athens such as the Church-Waddell-Brumby House (c. 1820) which is also the Historic Athens Welcome Center, the Taylor-Grady House (c. 1834) and the T. R. R. Cobb House (c. 1842).
By 1860, Athens was heavily reliant on an enslaved workforce, which grew to nearly 2,000 people at that time to make up for the loss of white men going to war. Over 300 men and more than 100 university students perished in the war, the most distinguished among them being Brigadier General T. R. R. Cobb, who authored the Confederate Constitution.
During the chaotic years of the Civil War, Athens played a behind-the-scenes role manufacturing Confederate munitions, one of which was an experimental double-barrelled cannon devised by a local dentist that failed spectacularly during its initial test, knocking over a resident’s chimney and killing a cow. The cannon never saw further action, and it is now displayed outside City Hall.
As the university grew, so did Athens. By 1900, its population reached over 10,000 and Athens boasted streetcars, electric lights, telephone lines, passenger rail, hotels, retail shops, water service, and even America’s first ladies’ garden club. Downtown was home to notable citizens, including aviation pioneer Ben Epps who was known for taking flight in his experimental monoplane using E. Washington Street as his runway. Monroe B. “Pink” Morton was a prominent black businessman instrumental in the development of the historically black district known as “Hot Corner.” Today, the Morton Theatre, built by Morton in 1910, is one of only four black vaudeville theaters remaining in the country. The theater continues to produce local and touring shows. By 1925, Athens had a new courthouse and city hall, a city library endowed by George Foster Peabody and a teacher’s college called the State Normal School (which gave the Normaltown neighborhood its name).
During World War II, the Athens community faced the challenges of wartime like any other small city. The University of Georgia played an important role for the U.S. Navy, training 2,000 combat pilots at the school. Athens experienced exponential growth after World War II, and the University’s enrollment soared as the GI Bill offered veterans a path to higher education. The Athens Area Vocational-Technical School (today Athens Technical College) opened in 1958, and manufacturing boomed in the post-war era.
The Civil Rights Era saw the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961 when Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter became the first black students admitted to UGA. Athens’ black residents faced the challenges of urban renewal projects displacing historically black communities. This led to activist efforts to advocate for affordable and fair housing, voting rights, educational equity and economic justice. Today, initiatives like the Linnentown Project, the Hot Corner Festival, the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, historical markers and black history tours recognize the efforts of Athens’ black leaders and community.
By the 1980s, the Athens economy had expanded to Atlanta Highway with the opening of the Georgia Square Mall. This made way for downtown Athens to become a vibrant music scene with bands like R.E.M. and the B-52s rising to national popularity. Local music venues like the 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre became iconic.
Expanding on this legacy of being a music hub, the Akins Ford Arena opened in December 2024 at the Classic Center, opening its doors to national touring musicians in addition to Disney on Ice shows, monster truck rallies and the Rock Lobsters minor league hockey team (named for the 1978 hit song by Athens legends the B-52s). See Athens Music.
Athens has become a home for stand-up and improv comedy, local theater and filmmaking. From nationally renowned performers to an open mic at a local bar, there’s bound to be something special, which can include such offerings as aerial arts shows, dance company performances, drag shows, poetry and other eclectic entertainment throughout the year. See Entertainment.
With Athens being the home of the Georgia Bulldogs, it’s worth a friendly warning that home game weekends bring in over 90,000 football fans to Sanford Stadium and the surrounding area for tailgating parties at the big game—particularly since the Bulldogs won the football national championship in 2021 and 2022.
UGA also continues to grow, now topping 40,000 students. As they were 220 years ago, the university and the city of Athens remain intertwined. UGA is by far Athens’ largest employer. UGA also provides many cultural opportunities like concerts (UGA Performing Arts Center, pac.uga.edu), topical exhibitions (Special Collections Libraries, libs.uga.edu/scl), art exhibitions (Georgia Museum of Art, georgiamuseum.org) and lectures that are open to the public. Likewise, students and professors are drawn to UGA as much by Athens’ charm as by the university’s academic and athletics success.
Weekly Flagpoles are available free all over the Athens area with updates online for those who are here for a while and for weekend Athenians, too.
Local Politics and Government
Flagpole’s City Dope column in the weekly magazine is a great resource for keeping up with local politics.
The ACC Commission includes 10 members, each representing a district, and the mayor (currently Kelly Girtz), who is elected countywide and presides over meetings but only votes in case of a tie. The commission meets at least three times a month at City Hall (301 College Ave.), with sessions televised on Channel 180 on Spectrum cable and streamed at youtube.com/accgov:
– Work sessions, where staff give presentations on upcoming decisions, are at 12 p.m. on the second Tuesday.
– Agenda-setting meetings, which include further discussion as well as public input, are at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday.
– Voting meetings are at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the following month.
Agendas and contact information for county officials are available at accgov.com.
The Clarke County Board of Education, composed of nine members who elect a president from among themselves, meets at 595 Prince Ave. on the second Thursday of the month, with a 5 p.m. work session followed by a 7 p.m. voting meeting. Agendas can be accessed through CCSD’s website at clarke.k12.ga.us.
Although Athens reliably votes about 70% Democratic, Republicans in the Georgia legislature have kindly used their mathematical skills to arrange the districts so that Athens is represented by five Republicans and just one Democrat in the state legislature. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is an Athens native.
Both Kemp and Girtz are term-limited. Since local elections are technically nonpartisan, Girtz’s replacement will be chosen in May 2026, alongside five commission races and partisan primaries for governor and other state and federal offices.
Athens has numerous activist groups working on labor, discrimination, LGBTQ, immigration, transportation and other issues. In addition, many campus group meetings are open to non-students. UGA also hosts nearly daily lectures, exhibitions, readings and discussion groups that are open to the public; check Flagpole’s Calendar or calendar.uga.edu for the latest.
How to Get Around
WALK/BIKE: Downtown, North Campus and most intown neighborhoods are compact and easy to navigate on foot or bike. On campus, Bulldog Bikeshare offers e-bikes for rent. BikeAthens has a map of bike paths. (Drivers, remember to stop for pedestrians, and allow three feet between your car and bicyclists!) Georgia law does not require cyclists to use bike lanes, so you’re permitted to depart from the bike lane when necessary to make a turn or avoid roadway hazards.
DRIVE: On-street parking downtown is $2.50 per hour between 8 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Saturday, with a two-hour time limit from 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Meters accept cards and coins. Tickets will run you $20–$25. Avoid the risk by parking in a deck—they’re free for the first hour (and all day Sunday) and $2 per hour after that. Most privately owned downtown surface lots turn into pay lots at night, and cars can be booted or towed if you don’t pay. Some free city-owned parking is available at the intersection of Dougherty and Jackson streets. On campus, surface lots are permit-only, so visitors should park in a deck. See downtownathensga.org and parking.uga.edu for more.
TAKE A CAB: Athens taxis are mostly large vans shared with other passengers. Fares aren’t metered; they’re based on zones and should be posted inside the cab. Vans gather by the Arch late at night. Expect to be asked whether you’re going to the Eastside or Westside. With multiple stops to make, the ride might take a while. Uber and Lyft also operate in Athens.
TAKE A BUS: Athens Transit (athenstransit.com) buses leave in all directions from the Multimodal Center on East Broad Street, down the hill from downtown. Both Athens Transit and UGA Campus Transit (transit.uga.edu) are free and open to the public—just hop on. Both agencies have apps that allow you to find stops and track buses.
SKIP TOWN: Southeastern Stages (southeasternstages.com) intercity buses leave from 4020 Atlanta Highway, and competitor Megabus (us.megabus.com) also uses that station. Groome Transportation (groometransportation.com) will take you from one of several pick-up locations to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Amtrak’s Crescent (amtrak.com) stops in Gainesville on its run between New Orleans and New York City.
Biking Around Town
Getting to Downtown:
– From Five Points: Lumpkin Street will get you there and back with conventional (unprotected by physical separations from cars) bike lanes; it’s hilly!
– From Normaltown: Two routes are suggested here. Take Talmadge Drive and cut over through the hospital to Cobb or Hill streets until you reach the Prince Avenue protected bike lane; or take Oglethorpe Avenue (which becomes Satula once you cross over Prince) north to Boulevard, from which you can use Lyndon or Grady avenues to get to the Prince bike lanes.
– From South Campus: East Campus Road has a parallel multi-use path from Milledge Avenue to E. Green Street. Most of the remainder of E. Campus Road has unprotected bike lanes, but be aware that there are a few gaps where bicyclists must use the vehicle lane.
– From the East Side: Whit Davis Road, Barnett Shoals Road and College Station Road have unprotected bike lanes; the North Oconee River Greenway, accessed via Carriage Lane or the water treatment plant off of College Station, connects to the Firefly Trail at Lexington Road and in Dudley Park (the Firefly gets you close, but not all the way into, downtown). Riverbend Road has a comfortable and semi-protected bike lane, but be ready for a climb! From Riverbend, take College Station to the E. Campus Road multi-use path toward downtown.
Parks and Trails:
- Oconee Rivers Greenway Trails System provides a family-friendly multi-use path with 3.1 miles of natural surface hiking-only trails and 8 miles of concrete, multi-use trails that are designated for non-motorized use.
- Walker Park is known for its mountain bike trails with varying difficulty levels.
- Dudley Park has a multi-use loop trail that is great for beginners, and a bridge over Trail Creek near Dudley Park pays homage to the historic train trestle pictured on the back cover of R.E.M.’s Murmur album.
- Oconee Forest Park’s gravel and dirt trails near UGA’s east campus are open from sunrise to sunset. Bikes are not allowed on some sections.
- Firefly Trail provides a separated and relatively flat corridor for biking and walking heading east from downtown Athens; the gap between Hancock Road and the charming city of Winterville should be completed sometime in 2026. When the entire project is finished (longterm), the Firefly will eventually span 39 miles through Athens-Clarke County, Oglethorpe County and Greene County.
How We Stack Up
Area: About 122 square miles—geographically the smallest county in Georgia.
Population: 128,691 (2024 Census estimate—includes UGA students)
Demographics: 58% white, 26% Black, 12% Hispanic of any race, 4% Asian, 8% two or more races (2020 Census)
UGA enrollment: 43,146 (Fall 2024)
Largest employers: UGA (11,541), Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center (3,300), Clarke County School District (2,350), St. Mary’s Health Care System (2,100), Athens-Clarke County Government (1,728), Pilgrim’s Pride (1,350), Caterpillar (1,100) (ACC Economic Development Department)
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