saint paul’s church

Saint Paul’s was the only church of any kind within 150 miles of Augusta when it was first established.  Its buildings have been destroyed by war, decay, and fire.  Fortunately, some items, including the silver, parish records, chancel rail, and the pulpit, were saved before the fire decimated the property in 1916.  These items are still in use by the congregation as tangible and comforting reminders of their history.

• 1749 The original Saint Paul’s Church was built adjacent to Fort Augusta.  The first clergyperson, an Anglican named Johnathan Copp, arrived from England in 1751.  He brought with him a baptismal bowl which is still in the possession of Saint Paul’s Church today.  
• 1765 Due to heavy use as a shelter by settlers living on the outskirts of Saint Paul’s Parish during the French and Indian War, the original Saint Paul’s Church fell into disrepair and had to be replaced.  The second church building was completed by this date.
• 1777 Saint Paul’s Church was destroyed by gunfire during the American Revolution.  In 1786 all church property was confiscated by the state and Episcopalians, linked to the Church of England, were persecuted.  
• 1789 A small, wooden church, the third building, was constructed for use by multiple denominations.  By 1818, the other denominations had either moved into church buildings of their own or were in the process of getting organized to do so.  Opposition to the Episcopalians had subsided and they were given title to the church and cemetery by the legislature.  The congregation made plans to build a new church.
• 1820 The fourth church, designed by John Lund in the Federal style, was completed.
• 1916 Saint Paul’s Church burned in the Great Augusta fire of 1916.  The present Federal style building, the fifth, with a Georgian interior and a parish house, was designed by Henry Ten Eyck Wendell and completed in 1918.  The design of the exterior of the church is nearly identical to the earlier building designed by Lund.

Today The final construction phase of an addition to the parish house, which began in 1999, has just been completed.  In addition to parish offices and Sunday school rooms, the new addition contains an event facility that that is available to the public to be rented for wedding receptions, lectures, meetings, and other appropriate events.  A large elegant room with a barrel vaulted ceiling opens onto the River Walk and is aptly named the River Room.  A smaller room adjoining the River Room is named the Berlin Room and a kitchen designed to please caterers as well as the parish complete the event facility.  One of the first events to be held in this new space will be Historic Augusta’s benefit auction Perfectly Aged: Antiques and Wine on September 11.

Julia Jackson is the Programs and Marketing Director for Historic Augusta, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve historically or architecturally significant structures and sites in Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia.

bringing our past into the present / the year was 1732

general james oglethorpe

Scattered sparsely across the lush expanse of greenery on either side of the Augusta Common stand pristine knee high monuments, seemingly untouched by man or the natural elements.  They silently honor the founding of our city, revisiting in quiet homage the detail and determination of one man in particular.  In the middle of this refreshing open plain, he stands: General James Oglethorpe.  Just as any man with a vision might look steadily toward an unfinished work or any father with an unflinching eye watches over the child who hasn’t yet found her way, James Oglethorpe peering off into the busy hum of Broad Street feels appropriate.

James Oglethorpe was born in London on December 22, 1696.  The seventh of nine children, he began his career in the military at sixteen.  Moving very quickly from his role as a secretary to the prince of England’s chief aid, he seemed destined to live up to not only the obligations set before him as a gentleman and soldier, but the many causes he championed later in life.  He served in Parliament for nearly 33 years and was an outspoken opponent of slavery.  A philanthropist all his life, Oglethorpe worked tirelessly for the well being of London’s poor, particularly those held in debtor’s prison and their children.  Many of the imprisoned were tradesmen and those forced into slavery.

After seeing firsthand the brutal conditions in these prisons, Oglethorpe along with twenty other men of prominence presented to the King a grand and dangerous idea: the development of a colony between South Carolina and the Spanish-held Florida.  The initial idea was to assist those locked away in confinement and the many people suffering from Protestant persecution by allowing them passage aboard the flagship “The Anne.”  Many believed these people to be a stain on the face of decent English society and eagerly wished to be rid of them.  James, however, believed these people to be the “worthy poor,” possessing the skills and fortitude necessary to brave a new world.  Because so many others wished to make that same trip, the first people to call Georgia home were not criminals at all; it was only later that Oglethorpe was able to ensure their freedom and new opportunity.  On June 9, 1732, a charter was signed and 

“The Anne” set off for what was to become Georgia.

Landing near what is now Savannah, Oglethorpe prepared this colony by building several forts and scouting the surrounding area.  The founding of Augusta was the most integral part of Georgia’s assurance of survival.  Laying out precise instructions to his key architect, Nobel Jones, Oglethorpe built Augusta to be a primary trading post and, more importantly, the first line of defense against the Spanish and French.  I find it amazing that the ancestors of this small place we call the Garden City were to be the most reliable in protecting first and foremost all they held sacred.  It makes me proud to know that Augusta held the ground first against two nations for the hopes and dreams of so many to survive.  James Oglethorpe lived to see his fledgling colony become an independent state and the southern anchor of a new nation.  He died at the age of 88, ever the humanitarian. In his last years, he continued to wage war upon the Parliament floor against slavery of any kind.

What a long road we’ve traveled to find ourselves here, so often unaware of the sacrifices of those who have come before us, and the hopes we have for those to come.  John Adams once wrote, “I must study military strategy and politics that my children can study math and science, that their children might study music, art, and architecture.”  Theirs was a passionate pursuit, and too costly for us to waste it all in complacency.

Wearing withering ambition as sleeves, heavy becomes the burden and distant the promise when what we long for as a community seems to fall short.  But there are many among us who believe there is a balance between development and preservation, a delicate balance that must be sustained by all who are beneath its pendulum. Too busy or preoccupied, we close our eyes in hopes that others might decide.  And this place we call home, where our memories live, not only in ourselves but in the stones around us, is changing.  For the better?  Well that’s for you and me to decide.

the slusky building

The Slusky Building located at 1015 Broad Street stands as a testament to the faith that generations of Augusta business people have had in our downtown. Each owner has been applauded for their investment in this site which in turn has benefited our community. A June 15, 1932, article in the Augusta Chronicle noted: “Instead of timidity in a time like this Mr. Slusky has shown his characteristic faith, vision and enterprise and he believes that there is a golden future ahead of Augusta.” Indeed, the golden future of downtown Augusta is upon us.

1886 David Slusky, a Russian immigrant and sheet metal worker by trade, established a business selling stoves, furnaces, tin roofing, galvanized iron, hard wood mantels and cornices.

1891 The Slusky business prospered allowing the proprietor to build a three- story building at 1015 Broad Street. Around 1905 David Slusky also built a fine Beaux-Arts style home located at 2605 Walton Way.

1919 Moses Slusky, son of David Slusky, joined the business. Later in life
Moses Slusky also became a director in the Georgia Railroad Bank and Trust Co.

1931 Culpepper Brothers Furniture Company’s five-story building at 1021 Broad Street burned to the ground on Sunday, October 24, 1931. Later that week on October 31, the burned out shell collapsed, causing enormous damage to the adjoining buildings, including the Slusky building, killing one woman in the Reel-Simkins Seed Company building at 1027 Broad Street and injuring thirteen others. David Slusky and Son moved their business temporarily to 1033 Broad Street by November 6, 1931 and immediately made plans to construct a new building to replace their damaged one.

1932 The new Slusky building at 1015 Broad Street opened the week of June 14, 1932. The architect of the building was Willis Irvin and the general contractor was Hanford Anderson, Jr. It is an interesting coincidence to note that the foreman was John Daly, the son of T.J. Daly who was the foreman for the original Slusky building constructed in 1891.

The façade of the two-story Art Deco style building was made of white
glazed terra cotta and Vermont marble accented by satin bronze metal. Three stores were located on the first floor with apartments on the second. A warehouse at the rear of the new building housed the David Slusky and Son firm.

1946 The business changed its name to Slusky Builders’ Supplies Inc. after the death of David Slusky. At the time of his death, David Slusky was also
the vice president of the National Exchange Bank.

1970s After the death of Moses Slusky in 1969, Slusky Builders’ Supplies Inc. merged with Maner Builders Supply Co. and the Slusky Building became the showroom of Augusta Gallery Office Furniture

1995 The owner of Augusta Gallery Office Furniture, Gail Williams, rehabilitated the Slusky Building on the interior and exterior, using the city’s façade rehabilitation program for the exterior work. A Preservation Award was presented to the owner by Historic Augusta, Inc. the following year.

Today R.W. Allen and Associates purchased the building in 2007 and are currently renovating it to become their corporate headquarters.

art bylines:

original: Augusta: A Postcard History by Joseph M. Lee, III, courtesy of Historic Augusta

[showing the 1891 Slusky Building that was damaged when the Culpeper Furniture Store Building collapsed in 1931]

artist rendering: original rendering by Leigh Margaret Pearson

The White’s Building

Augustans have watched with excitement and anticipation the work that is being completed on the former J. B. White department store. Vacant since White’s joined other stores in a mass exodus to the mall in the late 1970s, the building is currently being rehabilitated as fashionable, urban condominiums on the top three floors with offices and retail space on the first floor.

The former J.B. White department store was a longtime anchor of the 900 Block of Broad Street servicing the needs of the Augusta community by selling clothing, shoes, china and home furnishings. Downtown supporters are looking forward to this building being given the opportunity to once again have pride of place on this block.

• 1924 - J.B. White & Company, founded in 1874 by an Irish immigrant named James Brice White* (1847-1917), moved from the first floor of a building located at 724 Broad Street, which it shared with the lobby of the Albion Hotel, into a newly constructed Italian Renaissance style building located at 936 Broad Street. The general contractor of the new building was C.H. Van Ormer of Augusta. The mill work was made by Woodward Lumber Company, the roof and windows were provided by Augusta Roofing and Metal Company, headed by W.W. Jones, and Young Electrical Works installed the extensive wiring.
• 1946 - A fourth story was added to the White’s store and the façade was remodeled.1978J. B. White’s and other retailers left downtown for the promise of greater prosperity at the Regency Mall. J.B. White & Company, which had been sold by Mr. White in 1904 and had gone through a succession of owners, was eventually bought out by Dillard’s.
• 1999 - Augusta Renaissance Partners, formed with the goal of preserving buildings and encouraging downtown redevelopment, purchased the building, stabilized it, replaced the roof, cleaned the façade and removed asbestos, paving the way for future reuse.TodayHorizon Group Investments of Atlanta purchased the building from Augusta Renaissance Partners in 2007. The group is rehabilitating the structure as condominiums, office and retail space to be occupied this spring. The Augusta Downtown Development Authority will be one of the first tenants to get on board.* It is interesting to note that James Brice White, a millionaire and one of the wealthiest people in Augusta, died in Genoa, Italy in 1917 without ever having married or having had children. The bulk of his estate went to Irish siblings, nephews and nieces but a total of $400,000 was left to the Augusta City Council to be distributed to Augusta charities as they saw fit. Eventually this would provide $150,000 to build the Y.M.C.A. building at Broad and Macartan Streets (now Health Central), $50,000 to build the West End Y.M.C.A. (which evolved into the Boys Club in the Harrisburg Neighborhood), $50,000 to support the Y.W.C.A. (then located at 924 Greene Street) and $150,000 invested to support worthy causes (which still exists as the J.B. White Foundation).