Augusta Arsenal
19th-century fortification in Augusta, Georgia, now Payne Hall at Augusta State University
The Augusta Arsenal was a 19th-century fortification in Augusta, Georgia. Established in 1816 and initially completed on the Georgia bank of the Savannah River in 1819, it was moved to the former Belle Vue estate in the Summerville neighborhood of Augusta in 1827 due to health concerns after several fever epidemics.
Early history
The Belle Vue estate was established by George and Eliza Talbot Walker. It was the birthplace of their granddaughter, Octavia Walton Le Vert in 1811. George later sold Belle Vue to his brother, Freeman Walker, for use as a summer estate. Freeman Walker sold the 72 acres (29 ha) property, with the exception of one acre that contained the Walker Family Cemetery, to the United States government for $6,000 in 1826. The arsenal was moved to the new location the following year, with four large brick buildings connected by a twenty-two inch thick wall completed in 1829.
The arsenal served as a temporary refuge for troops from Cantonment Oglethorpe near Savannah, who relocated to Augusta Arsenal during the months May to November from 1829 to 1831 to escape the deadly fever season that had killed over 100 soldiers. The seasonal relocation strategy to Augusta Arsenal helped reduce deaths until permanent new barracks were constructed within Savannah in 1835.
Troops from the arsenal took part in various campaigns involving the Cherokee, Muscogee, and Seminole tribes and took part in the Mexican–American War.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Augusta Arsenal” as 19th-century fortification in Augusta, Georgia, now Payne Hall at Augusta State University. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as 19th-century fortification in Augusta, Georgia, now Payne Hall at Augusta State University. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 31, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4820887. Authority coordinates are 33.476, -82.024. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1816, 1819, 1827 and 1811.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Augusta Arsenal”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Augusta Arsenal primary sources, Augusta Arsenal archive and Augusta research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Augusta Arsenal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.