Columbia County, GA
History
The area along the Savannah River was inhabited for thousands of years by various cultures of indigenous peoples, primarily the Creek, Yuchi and Cherokee, prior to European colonization. During the Colonial era, the primary areas of settlement were Augusta, Wrightsboro (a Quaker settlement named for James Wright, the royal governor) and Brownsborough. Brownsborough was settled by Scots, mainly from northern Scotland and the Orkney Islands, brought over as indentured workers by Thomas Brown.Just before and immediately after the Revolution, numerous Virginians and North Carolinians migrated to the frontier of Georgia above Augusta, including the area around Brownsborough. Columbia County, the 12th county formed in Georgia, was created by an act of the Legislature on December 10, 1790 from Richmond County.