Athens seems the quintessential Southern college town. With a geography chiseled over time by the slow-flowing Oconee River, Athens has developed a unique culture as the two-century-long home of the state’s bustling center of learning and research, the University of Georgia.
Starting with the town’s beginnings, Frances Taliaferro Thomas, an original member and chair of the Athens Historic Preservation Commission, emphasizes settlement patterns, key events, institutions, architecture, landscape, economics and the highly distinctive personalities that have molded Athens into what it is today.
This edition includes two new sections of color photographs as well as a comprehensive new chapter tracing the milestones that led town and gown into the 21st century. Topics include the emerging cultural importance of the Classic Center, restoration and revitalization of many historic sites, vast building projects under two presidents of UGA; the progression of the greenway along the North Oconee River and initiatives to address rising poverty rates within the county. A Portrait of Historic Athens and Clarke County is the definitive account of a place that makes history each and every day.