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Aiken County Visitors Center

3.0 (1 review)

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Augusta Museum of History - Augusta Museum of History

Augusta Museum of History

4.6(45 reviews)
15.0 mi

This is one of Augusta's most rewarding museums, a place that manages to tell a 12,000‑year story…read morewithout ever feeling overwhelming. The Augusta Museum of History is the city's oldest historical institution, founded in 1937 and now the only accredited museum in the Central Savannah River Area, which gives it a level of curatorial depth you can feel as you move from room to room. The museum's signature exhibition, Augusta's Story, begins with the region's earliest Indigenous cultures, including artifacts from the Stallings Island people, and then moves through the Colonial Era, the antebellum period, the Civil War, and the city's twentieth century reinventions. You see everything from slave‑made pottery to a 12‑pounder bronze Napoleon cannon tube and an 1869 steam fire engine tied to the devastating 1916 fire that reshaped parts of the city. It's a rare chance to see Augusta's full arc laid out in a way that feels comprehensive. The museum also excels at capturing the city's cultural identity. The James Brown gallery is a highlight, celebrating the life and global influence of the "Godfather of Soul" with photographs, stage pieces, and biographical context that show how deeply he shaped Augusta's modern identity. Several media options to watch him performing and to hear other leading figures discuss his influence. The golf and Masters Tournament section offers a thoughtful look at how the sport became intertwined with the city's reputation, and the medical history exhibit includes an impressive wall of antique medicine bottles that gives you a sense of how local healthcare evolved over generations. One of the most enjoyable parts of the visit is the Transportation Corridor, which brings Augusta's mobility story to life with a 1914 steam locomotive, a 1917 steam trolley, a reconstructed 1930s gas station, and a range of early vehicles. Walking through the restored streetcar and stepping into the rail car for photos adds a tactile, playful element that balances the more traditional exhibits. Upstairs, the museum's radio history exhibit traces the rise of WBBQ, one of Augusta's most influential stations, including a "then and now" section installed for its 60th anniversary. There are also exhibits on local law enforcement and firefighting, as well as a gallery of regional legends that highlights entertainers, athletes, writers, and other notable Augustans. The entire museum is comfortably explored in about two hours, which makes it an easy and rewarding stop whether you're spending a full day downtown or pairing it with the Morris Museum of Art or the Riverwalk. It's the kind of place that leaves you with a clearer sense of Augusta's character, from its earliest settlements to the voices and industries that shaped the city you see today. Don't miss it. [Review 203 of 2026 - 904 in Georgia - 25392 overall]

We were in town for the weekend and decided to pay this place a visit. The admission price was…read moreonly a dollar so you really can't go wrong with that price. The first floor has a pretty extensive history of the city and was very interesting. The second floor has about five other sections including golf, James Brown, medical, and locals.

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Augusta Museum of History - Colonial Era at the Augusta Museum of History

Colonial Era at the Augusta Museum of History

Augusta Museum of History - Augusta Museum of History

Augusta Museum of History

Augusta Museum of History - Augusta Museum of History

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Augusta Museum of History

Aiken County Historical Museum

Aiken County Historical Museum

4.8(6 reviews)
0.6 mi

Aiken is a pleasant moderately sized town, but this museum is bigger than anything one could…read morereasonably expect here. The building is really a complex, a repurposed residential estate, with multiple levels. I arrived with an hour and a half before closing and used most of that time just skimming all the rooms, even though some areas were closed for installation. And it was free! The result is a lot of very specific content, from entries on food to war history to the nuclear facility nearby. Aiken County is surprisingly large and includes not only the town of Aiken but a broad swath of land that stretches to the river across from Augusta, and exhibitions here do focus on North Augusta and other towns in the area. Even one of the bathrooms had some information on military latrines as a sort of exhibit. The museum covers a lot of big historical events from a local perspective, so you'll get a window into the Civil War and a sense of the Colonial era and Native American history. I did not receive a tour as there was only one person working there, but it would likely be an interesting tour.

Spent the weekend wandering around Aiken, SC looking at history. The Historical Museum was closed,…read morebut I did take some pics for my memoires. Hopefully I will go back for the Banksia tour soon. The mansion grounds are well maintained from the outside. Free parking is available. Will update once I actually do the tour.

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Aiken County Historical Museum - Needlework exhibit

Needlework exhibit

Aiken County Historical Museum
Aiken County Historical Museum

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Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site - Mansion

Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site

4.8(24 reviews)
12.9 mi

Redcliffe is one of the hidden gems of the CSRA. There are so many different things to enjoy here,…read moreand everyone can find something they love and a reason to keep coming back. There's a museum, house and grounds tour, natural trails, big fields for kids to run around in, and beautiful gardens to enjoy. The house tour was great and our guide was extremely knowledge. They did a fantastic job of striking a good line between not white washing history but also not painting all historical figures as purely evil people - that's a hard balance to achieve but they did it. The house is really a spectacular architectural achievement and you should absolutely do a tour if you come here. The library alone is worth the entry fee. There's also several original outbuildings which are even more unique since many of those are not preserved on other plantations. The nature trails and grounds are also great to just walk around in. Our kid had a great time running around, and we saw several birds of prey and even an owl!

It makes me sad that I had time only for a brief stopover. One has to drive down a dirt road to get…read moreto this, but it seemed quite worthwhile. A visitor center was open, though it was surrounded by what the park ranger called "garden spiders", which are not aggressive towards humans and whose bite, if provoked, is painful but not deadly. I've seen Australia-level spiders and lived to tell the tale, but these were definitely no joke; arachnophobes beware. The site includes a mansion, a cactus garden for some reason, and a variety of other buildings. Notably, the slave quarters housed extensive exhibitions. I'm not sure if this park was always so given the way history is treated in some parts of the south, but at least now it has a thorough historical take. I did not have time for the tour, but one can reasonably hope that whatever tour guide you get it will be worthwhile.

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Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site - Second nd first floor spacious hallways.

Second nd first floor spacious hallways.

Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site
Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site - Red cliff  mansion

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Red cliff mansion

Aiken County Visitors Center - historicaltours - Updated May 2026

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