Augusta, GA

George Perkins Sr., an architect of Augusta’s westward residential growth, dies at 95

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2024

George Perkins Sr., an architect of Augusta’s westward residential growth, dies at 95

George E. Perkins Sr., the architect-builder whose construction of hundreds of west Augusta homes helped shape the city’s postwar growth toward suburban Columbia County, has died at 95.

Perkins died June 15. His wife of 75 years, the former Joyce Banks, died less than three months before.

If Perkins’ name doesn’t sound familiar, the names of his many development projects should. Neighborhoods such as Waverly and Monclair became parts of the city of Augusta through Perkins’ and his partners’ design and construction.

He estimated in his career to have built some 800 homes and offices.

An Augusta native, Perkins grew up on Jenkins Street in Harrisburg, the son of barber O.W. Perkins and Beulah “Pat” Perkins, an interior decorator.

He began working for the Augusta architectural firm Eve and Stulb in January 1950, just weeks after two of his life’s milestones: graduating from Georgia Tech with an architecture degree and marrying his wife.

But it was his acceptance of a junior partnership in The Bailey Co. homebuilding and development firm in 1955 that would chart his professional trajectory. At the time, Bailey was developing Westwick, a neighborhood of several dozen homes off Walton Way near where it meets Aumond Road.

It’s a gift: Augusta Exchange Club awards $100K in grants to area nonprofits

A September 1955 ad in The Augusta Chronicle advertised one of Westwick’s three-bedroom, two-bath homes for $18,750. A randomly selected house in the same neighborhood in 2024 showed an appraised value of more than $500,000.

In 1957, The Bailey Co. split, separating the building component of the organization into Perkins Construction Co.

The two companies spent the late 1950s and early 1960s erecting neighborhood after neighborhood of affordable homes from west of Aumond Road to the Richmond County line, pushing Augusta’s westward expansion to its literal limit.

Some subdivision names are seldom uttered today, such as Sheffield Place and Brynwood. Others are still with us, including Waverly and the ambitiously conceived Montclair, a 500-home development that took 11 years to complete. He also built adjoining subdivisions Crofton and, after creating the George Perkins Co. in 1973, Sugar Mill Woods.

A 5-acre tract Perkins bought in 1975 became the 25-building Professional Village in Martinez a decade later.

Retirement did little to slow Perkins down. A backyard garden with flowers and vegetables became a water-featured showpiece that he maintained for years.

“I see many of my neighbors walking for exercise,” Perkins quipped to The Chronicle in 1999. “For me, gardening keeps me flexible, and flexibility is important for my golf game.” By age 40 he had gotten so hooked on golf that it squeezed out another of his hobbies, hunting.

Nothing, however, stood in the way of the devoted family man’s good works. Perkins’ stewardship at First Baptist Church and Warren Church was exemplary, connecting with teens through Bible studies and backpacking trips. He helped found Augusta’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity, designing and helping supervise the construction of its first house.

His proud membership in the Exchange Club of Augusta, for which he was a past president, lasted 67 years.

Perkins’ memorial service was held Tuesday in Storey Chapel at First Baptist Church, with Dr. Will Dyer officiating. Interment was in the church’s Cremation Garden.

Memorial contributions can be made to First Baptist Church of Augusta, 3500 Walton Way Ext., Augusta, GA 30909; or to The Exchange Club of Augusta Charity Fund, P.O. Box 3884, Augusta, GA 30914-3884.

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Augusta, GA

Finding Solutions: Augusta Juvenile Court receives grant for gang prevention

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Finding Solutions: Augusta Juvenile Court receives grant for gang prevention

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Juvenile Court received a grant of more than $1 million to prevent youth from joining gangs by addressing underlying factors that lead to criminal behavior.

The grant from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council will allow the court to expand services beyond its current programs and serve a broader population of at-risk youth.

“This allows us to build on the work we are currently doing. It also allows us to serve a different population of youth that we have not been able to serve on such an extended level, so we have additional funds that will serve even more kids and to hopefully assist the sheriff and district attorney in not having youthful offenders become adult offenders that they have to obtain and prosecute,” said Chief Judge Tianna Bias.

Addressing root causes

The funding will target factors that make youth vulnerable to gang recruitment, including poor school attendance and reading difficulties.

“Whether it’s that they have poor school attendance, not reading on grade level. One thing we’ve seen is that when you are not reading on grade level that has an impact on many other areas of your life. It’s really just an opportunity to offer wrap-around support for these kids so we can prevent them from getting into unfortunate situations that they may not end up in front of a juvenile court judge later,” Bias said.

Dr. Audrey Armistad, chief intake officer for the juvenile court, said the court’s goal is rehabilitation rather than detention.

“We put them in programs and services that help them to be able to develop mentally, socially and physically when it comes to kids involved with the juvenile court,” Armistad said.

Expanding services

The juvenile court currently serves at-risk youth through the THRIVE program. The court is also expanding services with a new computer lab set to open next month.

“It helps us to be able to provide instruction to kids getting GEDs, parents wanting GEDs, as well as we provide learning loss instruction to kids enrolled in Richmond County who may need remediation in math and reading,” Armistad said.

A gang prevention expert will meet with the juvenile court team to provide recommendations on how the grant money should be spent.

Bias said success will be measured by fewer teens in courtrooms and more in classrooms.

“We are meant to rehabilitate not to punish and we want to help these parents get kids on track so we can see a better Augusta for everyone,” Bias said.

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Augusta, GA

AU to cut ribbon on new Student Health Services building

Published

14 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

AU to cut ribbon on new Student Health Services building

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta University is set to cut the ribbon on a new Student Health Services building on Friday.

The ribbon cutting will be held at 2:30 p.m. at 1465 Laney Walker Boulevard in Augusta.

The event will showcase the field of college health and the role the services have on students’ personal development and academic success.

The clinic relocated to the new space last month to make way for AU’s advanced research and clinical innovation, according to officials.

At the event, there will also be snacks, interactive games and clinic tours.

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Augusta, GA

Law enforcement converges on home in west Augusta

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Law enforcement converges on home in west Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – There was a large law enforcement presence Thursday morning at a home in west Augusta near Fort Gordon.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force were in the area attempting to find a suspect, according to deputies.

Witnesses said around 11:25 a.m. that officers had been surrounding a home at Harper-Franklin Avenue and Covington Court.

That’s in a neighborhood of mostly two-story brick-fronted homes built in the past three or four years just east of Jimmie Dyess Parkway and a couple of blocks north of Gordon Highway.

As noon approached, law enforcement had left.

But a Facebook post from earlier did show a large presence,including marked and unmarked cars, and officers all around the house. A witness said police dogs were on the scene, as well.

News 12 has reached out to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office for information.

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