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McDuffie County History
1767 – Governor James Wright grants 12,000 acres to 1880 – Cotton production flourishes along with the culture of
Pennsylvania and North Carolina Quakers as a buffer enslaved workers. By 1880, 64 percent of the county’s 9,449
between Augusta and the Creek and Cherokee Indians. residents are African American.
1770 – Wrightsborough, named for Gov. Wright, is formally 1910 – Town of Dearing is incorporated, named for William
established by Quakers. Dearing, a board member of the Georgia Railroad and
1773 – Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee, and Uchee tribes Banking Company.
cede 2 million acres to European settlers. The land now
includes McDuffie, Columbia, Elbert, Green, Warren, Wilkes, 1952 – Clarks Hill Lake is created when the J. Strom
and other counties. Thurmond Dam is built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the
Savannah River.
1800 – Gold is discovered along Little River. Gold mining
becomes one of the first industries in the area, soon to be 1993 – The 1st Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held.
replaced by farming valuable cotton.
1997 – Augusta Technical College opens its Thomson Campus.
Around this time, Wrightsborough is nearly deserted as the
Quaker colonists relocate to the Midwest or assimilate into 2021 – University Hospital becomes Piedmont McDuffie.
mostly Scots-Irish communities.
2054 – Future residents will celebrate the Bicentennial of City
1830s – Georgia’s first railroad tracks were laid in the of Thomson.
mid-1830s on routes leading from Athens, Augusta, Macon,
and Savannah.
Unearth more fascinating stories about McDuffie County’s
1854 – City of Thomson is incorporated. diverse history at the Thomson-McDuffie Museum in
downtown Thomson.
1870 – McDuffie County is formed from parts of Warren
and Columbia counties. The county is named for George Thomson-McDuffie Museum
McDuffie, a native Georgia lawyer, governor, and U.S. 121 Main St., Thomson, GA 30824
Senator. Thomson is named the county seat. 706-595-9923 | mcduffiemuseum.com
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www.thomsonmcduffiechamber.com • 706-597-1000
