The Power of Water: Augusta Canal

Augusta Canal helped usher the Industrial Revolution into the South by harnessing Savannah River to power mills and factories, including the Confederate Powder Works. One of the only intact, functioning American 19th century industrial power canal systems and home to diverse plants and animals of the southeastern Fall Line, Augusta Canal National Heritage Area is an oasis for outdoor recreation. - NPS

Augusta Canal National Heritage Area - Historic Augusta Canal and Industrial District includes a three-level canal constructed in 1845-46 and enlarged in 1874-77. The first level reaches 8.5 miles from head gate structures in Columbia County into downtown Augusta. The second and third levels take several paths through the Downtown and the Laney-Walker Districts prior to returning to the Savannah River, for a total length of approximately 13.5 miles.

Notable structures at the upper end of the canal's first level are two head gates, the canal impoundment area, canal dam and attached fish ladder, stone quarry, and municipal raw water pumping station. The Enterprise, Blanche, Dartmouth, Sibley, and John P. King textile mills along the lower end of the first level date from the 1870s and 1880s. - NPS