1.
Florida Gators football
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The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and they play their home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the universitys Gainesville campus. The Gators have won three championships and eight SEC titles in the 108-season history of Floridas varsity football program. The Florida football program has evolved from its beginnings and achieved notable successes. Florida has had a home field since the beginning of their football program. Since 1930, their home field has been Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the stadium was known as Florida Field until 1989 when its name was extended to honor alumnus and sports benefactor Ben Hill Griffin. During the 1990s, football coach Steve Spurrier called the stadium the Swamp, the quickly became popular. Since 1906 Florida has had twenty-five head coaches, including three who were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for their coaching success and their first head coach was Pee Wee Forsythe in 1906, the 2015 season was the first for their twenty-fifth head coach, Jim McElwain. During the programs early years, Florida was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in 1932 the University of Florida was a founding member of the Southeastern Conference, and it is currently one of fourteen member institutions. The Gators have competed in the SEC Eastern Division since the league began play in 1992. Florida plays an eight-game SEC schedule, with six games against the other Eastern Division teams, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, the schedule is filled out with an annual game against Louisiana State and a rotating SEC Western Division team. Until 2003, the Gators also played Auburn every season, Florida has also played in-state rival Florida State every year since 1958, usually facing off in the last game of the regular season. The two teams emergence as perennial football powers during the 1980s and 1990s helped build the Florida–Florida State rivalry into a game often has national-title implications. The remaining dates on Floridas regular schedule are filled by non-conference opponents which vary from year to year, previously known as the worlds largest outdoor cocktail party, it is most commonly called the Florida–Georgia game by Gator fans. The game is held at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, the designated home team alternates, with ticket distribution split evenly between the schools. In the rivalrys early years, games rotated among locations in Savannah, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, Jacksonville and, occasionally, Gainesville, since 1933 the game has been played in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995. Georgia had early success in the rivalry, winning the first six games, after the 2014 game Florida had won 21 out of the most-recent 27 games, and holds a 38–28–1 advantage in the series since 1950. The Bulldogs lead the overall, 49–43–2
2.
History of the University of Florida
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The history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida originated as several institutions that were consolidated to create a single state-supported university by the Buckman Act of 1905. The earliest of these was the East Florida Seminary, one of two seminaries of learning established by the Florida Legislature. The East Florida Seminary opened in 1853, becoming the first state-supported institution of learning in the state of Florida. The East Florida Seminary operated in Ocala until the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 and it closed for the duration of the war, and reopened in Gainesville in 1866, absorbing the Gainesville Academy. The other primary predecessor to the University of Florida was the Florida Agricultural College, Florida Agricultural College became the first land-grant college in the state, and the small college emphasized the scientific training of agricultural and mechanical specialists. In 1905 the Buckman Act restructured higher education in Florida, the school began accepting some white women starting in 1924, and became fully coeducational as a result of the influx of new students brought in by the GI Bill after World War II. It became racially integrated in 1958, into the 21st century the school grew substantially in size and increased in academic prominence, becoming a member of the Association of American Universities in 1985. It is now known as The University of Florida, in 1823, the Florida Territorial Legislature and the United States Congress began to plan a system of higher education for Florida. It was not until the 1850s, however, that the Florida Legislature took steps towards implementing these plans, in 1851, the legislature voted to allow the establishment of two seminaries on either side of the Suwannee River, West Florida Seminary and East Florida Seminary. The latter became the first of the institutions that were merged to create what is now known as the University of Florida. On January 6,1853, Florida governor Thomas Brown signed the legislation that provided support for the seminaries. Gilbert Kingsbury was the first person to state support under the legislation. This was the first state-supported institution of learning in the state of Florida. The seminary closed in 1861 due to the Civil War, roper had founded the Academy in downtown Gainesville in 1858. The state accepted his offer, and parts of the campus would be incorporated into the campus of the future University of Florida. Epworth Hall, the building of the East Florida Seminary, still stands in downtown Gainesville. In 1884, Jordan Probst established what became the major predecessor to the University of Florida, Florida Agricultural College
3.
Clemson Tigers football
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The Clemson Tigers, known traditionally as the Clemson University Fighting Tigers, represents Clemson University in the sport of American football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the team is known for its storied history, military academy origins, distinctive helmet, fight song and colors, as well as the many traditions associated with the school. The Tigers most recent ACC championships came back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, the latter with a 12-1 regular season, the Tigers have 41 bowl appearances,18 of which are among the New Years Six Bowls, including 2 during the BCS big four era. Clemson has finished in the Final Top 25 rankings 31 times in the modern era, the Tigers play their home games in Memorial Stadium on the universitys Clemson, South Carolina campus. The stadium is known as Death Valley after a Presbyterian College head coach gave it the moniker in 1948 due to the many defeats his teams suffered there. Currently, it is the 16th largest stadium in college football, Clemsons streak of six consecutive 10 win seasons ranks 2nd in active streaks behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tigers have had 13 total seasons with 10 wins or more, Walter Merritt Riggs can be characterized as the Father of Clemson Football, as he brought the game with him from Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. The fact that Auburn and Clemson share the same mascot is no accident, Riggs allowed his players to pick the team mascot and, although he may have influenced their decision, the players chose Tigers because Princeton University had just won the national championship. Riggs helped organize and coach the infant Tiger team in 1896, with little money to spend on uniforms, Riggs brought some of Auburns old practice uniforms with him, which happened to have orange and navy jerseys. Because the jerseys had gone through a few washboard scrubbings, they were quite faded, so Riggs made the schools predominant color orange and the faded condition of the navy became the purplish color, officially known today as Regalia. The team played as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, when the Tigers traveled to Greenville on Halloween to play Furman in their very first match, only Coach Riggs and backfield player Frank Thompkins had ever seen a football game played. Today in Clemson, the field is named Historic Riggs field after Walter Riggs. Riggs took the team to a 2–1 record in the inaugural year and he then stepped aside at the urging of the military cadets/students, who felt that he should concentrate on his scholastic duties rather than coach the team for free. William M. Williams coached the Tigers in 1897, guiding them to a 2–2 record, the team beat South Carolina for the first time and was state champion. In 1898, John Penton led the Tigers to a 3–1 record, Riggs overall record of 6–3 gives him a.667 winning percentage. He served until his death on January 22,1924 while on a trip to Washington. Riggs hired John Heisman to coach Clemson, Heisman stayed only four years at Clemson, where he compiled a record of 19–3–2, an.833 percentage, the best in Clemson football history. In four seasons, he had three SIAA titles, the season had various other firsts, including the schools first defeat of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide
4.
Lineman (gridiron football)
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In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line. A number of NFL rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. An offensive linemans motion during a play is limited to just a few quick steps to establish position. Offensive linemen thus tend to be the largest players on the field, with excellent agility and balance, most pro and college football offensive lineman tend to weigh over 300 pounds. On passing plays, the line is responsible for stopping defensive players from tackling the quarterback before he has thrown the ball. The interior offensive line consists of the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, in addition to the interior line, a full offensive line may also include a Tight End outside one or both of the tackles. However, ends are eligible to catch passes, when an offensive lineman knocks a player down on a block, leaving the defensive player lying flat on his back, it is colloquially known as a pancake block. When an offensive line has an number of men on either side of the center. The defensive line consists of one or two defensive tackles and two ends who play outside the defensive tackles. The defensive line works with the linebackers to try to control the line of scrimmage, the 4-3 defensive formation, most commonly used in the NFL, employs two defensive tackles, while the 3-4 formation uses just a single defensive tackle, called the nose tackle. However, defensive ends in a typical 3-4 have responsibilities more similar to a 4-3 defensive tackle than 4-3 defensive ends, on running plays, the goal is to tackle the ball carrier. The defensive tackles are usually the most skilled run defenders on the team, on passing plays, the defensive line tries to reach the quarterback. Defensive ends are usually the most skilled pass rushers on the team, in order to increase the pressure on the quarterback, teams will often have players other than the defensive line attempt to tackle the quarterback, this is called a blitz. Defensive linemen—particularly defensive ends—are called upon to do more running than offensive linemen, thus they usually tend to be somewhat lighter and faster
5.
John Heisman
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John William Heisman was a player and coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. His 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado were recognized as the national champion and he served as the athletic director at Georgia Tech from 1904 to 1919 and at Rice from 1924 to 1927. While at Georgia Tech, he also was president of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team, fuzzy Woodruff dubbed Heisman the pioneer of Southern football. Heisman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954 and his entry there notes that Heisman stands only behind Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, and Walter Camp as a master innovator of the brand of football of his day. One writer says Heisman, Stagg, and Warner constitute the Football Trinity, the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the seasons most outstanding college football player, is named after him. Heisman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Bavarian German immigrants Sara and he grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania near Titusville, where he played varsity football for Titusville High School from 1884 to 1886, and was salutatorian of his graduating class. Although he was a student, he confessed he was football mad. Heismans father refused to him play at Titusville, calling football bestial. He went on to football as a lineman at Brown University and at the University of Pennsylvania. In constant dread that his immediate teammates—guards weighing 212 and 243—would fall on him and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1892. In his book Principles of Football, Heisman described his strategy, The coach should be masterful and commanding. He has no time to say please or mister, at times he must be severe, arbitrary, and little short of a czar. Heisman always used a megaphone at practice, Heisman first coached at Oberlin College in 1892. Wrote The Oberlin Review in 1892, Mr. Heisman has entirely remade our football and he has taught us scientific football. Influenced by Yale and Pudge Heffelfinger, Heisman implemented seven-man interference and his best lineman at Oberlin was the half German, half Hawaiian John Henry Wise. Heisman also used a pass and a double pass. Heisman returned to Oberlin in 1894, in 1893 he moved to Buchtel College, where he helped make the first of many permanent alterations to the sport of football. It was then customary for the center to begin a play by rolling the ball backwards, under Heisman, the center began tossing the ball to Clark, a practice that evolved into the snap that today begins every play
6.
Florida Gators
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The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida, its program, its alumni. The Gators compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Southeastern Conference, All Florida Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I, and twenty of the twenty-one Gators teams compete in the SEC. The University of Florida was one of the thirteen members who joined together to form the new Southeastern Conference on December 8 and 9,1932. Previously, the university was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1912 to 1921, albert and Alberta are the official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators. Albert and Alberta are unique among the SECs mascots as the only male-and-female pair, McKethan Stadium for baseball, and James G. Pressly Stadium for soccer and outdoor track and field. The Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium and the Florida Lacrosse Facility are located on Hull Road on the side of the campus. The Mark Bostick Golf Course and Scott Linder Stadium for tennis are located on S. W, second Avenue on the northwestern side of the campus. For the 2014–15 school year, the UAA has a budget of $103,310,001, projected revenues of $104,064,487. Scott Stricklin is Floridas athletic director, the Florida Gators athletic program has been recognized as the best overall in the Southeastern Conference over the past two decades, and consistently as one of the best in the nation. During the 2013–14 school year, the Gators mens and womens teams combined to win the Southeastern Conference All-Sports Trophy for the time in the past twenty-seven years. The mens athletic program was also the winner of the 2010–11 and 2011–12 Capital One Cup, Florida is one of only two schools in NCAA Division I history to hold the mens basketball and football championships during the same school year, the other being Oklahoma State University. In January 2009, the Gators football team won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game with a 24–14 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners, individual Gator athletes have won 279 individual NCAA championships in boxing, golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. Coach Andy Lopez took over the Gators baseball program in 1994, in 1996, he coached the Gators to a fifty-win season and a College World Series bid. By 2000, the program had seemingly hit a plateau and Lopez was replaced, pat McMahon became the Gators head coach in 2001 after coaching the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Gators 2005 baseball season was the most successful to date, with the winning the SEC title. The team advanced to the round against the Texas Longhorns. Following their 2005 College World Series run, the Gators opened the 2006 season ranked one in the polls, but struggled to finish 28–28 record
7.
Gainesville, Florida
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Gainesville is the county seat and largest city in Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Gainesville in the 2013 US Census estimates was 127,488, Gainesville is the largest city in the region of North Central Florida. It is also a component of the Gainesville-Lake City Combined Statistical Area, Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the nations ninth-largest university campus by enrollment, as well as to Santa Fe College. The Gainesville MSA was ranked as the No.1 place to live in North America in the 2007 edition of Cities Ranked and Rated, also in 2007, Gainesville was ranked as one of the best places to live and play in the United States by National Geographic Adventure. About 12,000 years ago Paleo-Indians lived in Florida, although it is not known for certain whether any permanent settlements from that period were in the present city limits of Gainesville, archaeological evidence of human presence exists. Eventually more complex social organization and agricultural practices emerged into what archaeologists classify as the Deptford culture, a Deptford culture campsite has been excavated beneath the subsequent Alachua culture Law School Burial Mound on the grounds of the University of Florida. The UF campus burial mound was built about 1000 A. D. by Alachua culture inhabitants who lived along the shore of Lake Alice. In the recorded period, the region was home to the Potano, the remaining Timucua were converted to Roman Catholicism and organized into missions overseen by Franciscan priests. The Mission San Francisco de Potano, the first doctrina in Florida west of the St. Johns River, was founded in 1606 at the edge of present-day San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. Chief Potanos town was relocated in the period to the vicinity of the Devils Millhopper. Spanish colonists began cattle ranching in the Paynes Prairie area using Timucua labor, between 1763 and 1784 what is now Gainesville fell within the jurisdiction of the colony of British East Florida. Gainesville was founded to place the Alachua County seat on the route of the Florida Railroad Companys line stretching from Cedar Key to Fernandina Beach. County residents decided to move the county seat from Newnansville in 1853, a site on Black Oak Ridge where the railroad was expected to cross it was selected in 1854. It is generally accepted that the new settlement was named for General Edmund P. Gaines, the railroad was completed from Fernandina to Gainesville in 1859, passing six blocks south of the courthouse. Hogtown is the village of the adjacent Hogtown Creek, which flows 5.7 miles through Gainesville. Hogtown continued to exist until after Gainesville was founded, as evidenced on a map showing both towns, which was published in 1864 based on surveys from 1855, two residents of Hogtown played a prominent role in establishing Gainesville. William Lewis, who owned a plantation in Hogtown, delivered 20 votes pledged to him to create a new town on the route of the railroad. Tillman Ingram, who owned a plantation and a sawmill in Hogtown
8.
Flying wedge
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A flying wedge is a configuration created from a body moving forward in a triangular formation. This V-shaped arrangement began as a military strategy in ancient times when infantry units would move forward in wedge formations to smash through an enemys lines. This principle was used by Medieval European armies, as well as modern armed forces. In modern times the effectiveness of flying wedge means it is employed by civilian police services for riot control. It has also used in some sports, although the use of wedges is sometimes banned due to the danger it poses to defenders. The wedge, was used by infantry and cavalry. The men deployed in a triangular or trapezoid formation with the tip leading the way, according to Arrian and Asclepiodotus, the wedge was first used by the Scythians, and then the Thracians. Philip II of Macedon adopted it from them as the formation of his Companion cavalry and Alexander the Great faced Persian cavalry arrayed thus. As an infantry formation it is attested by Frontinus to have used by the Romans in Pydna against the Macedonian line of Perseus. In the Late Roman army, several units were designated as cuneus. Keilerkopf or Keil is a German phrase to describe the formation of the prehistoric infantry of the Celts. It is generally believed that the Germanic tribes were successful with this tactic than the Celts. It was used to force the Roman forces to split and was applied specifically to the weakest units. Here the individual warrior tried to gain fame and glory in the battle, the most distinguished princes and their acolytes stood at the head of the Keil. However, this was also the most dangerous point, whence the need to be heavily armoured, but an army leader who survived a lost battle often forfeited his life. Warriors who had fled were hanged or slain, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Keil was a tightly packed crowd, strong on all sides, not only in front and back, but also on the flanks. The formation was not like a wedge but more like a rectangle with forty warriors in the first line and 1,600 men strong, in this formation, the wingmen are at most risk. It was therefore possible that the wing marched with some caution and held back a bit, so that the center stormed further
9.
Forward pass
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In several forms of football a forward pass is a throwing of the ball in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive teams goal line. In some football codes, such as football, the kicked forward pass is used so ubiquitously that it is not thought of as a distinct kind of play at all. In these sports, the concept of offside is used to regulate who can be in front of the play or be nearest to the goal, however, this has not always been the case. Some earlier incarnations of football allowed unlimited forward passing, while others had strict offside rules similar to rugby, the development of the forward pass in American football shows how the game has evolved from its rugby roots into the distinctive game it is today. Illegal and experimental forward passes had been attempted as early as 1876, another change in rules occurred on January 18,1951, which established that no center, tackle, or guard could receive a forward pass. Today, the only linemen who can receive a forward pass are the ends, current rules regulate who may throw and who may receive a forward pass, and under what circumstances, as well as how the defensive team may try to prevent a pass from being completed. In American and Canadian football, a pass, usually referred to simply as a pass. This is permitted only once during a scrimmage down by the team before team possession has changed, provided the pass is thrown from in or behind the neutral zone. An illegal forward pass can incur a penalty and the loss of a down, although it may be legally intercepted by the opponents. If an eligible receiver on the passing team legally catches the ball, the pass is completed, if an opposing player legally catches the ball it is an interception. That players team immediately gains possession of the ball and he may attempt to advance the ball toward his opponents goal, if no player is able to legally catch the ball it is an incomplete pass and the ball becomes dead the moment it touches the ground. It will then be returned to the line of scrimmage for the next down. If any player interferes with an eligible receivers ability to catch the ball it is pass interference which draws a penalty of varying degree. The person passing the ball must be a member of the team. The moment that a forward pass begins is important to the game, the pass begins the moment the passers arm begins to move forward. If the passer drops the ball before this moment it is a fumble, in this case anybody can gain possession of the ball before or after it touches the ground. If the passer drops the ball while his arm is moving forward it is a pass, regardless of where the ball lands or is first touched. The quarterback generally either starts a few paces behind the line of scrimmage or drops back a few paces after the ball is snapped
10.
Macon, Georgia
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Macon /ˈmeɪkən/ is a city located in the state of Georgia, United States. Macon lies near the center of the state, approximately 85 miles south of Atlanta. Settled near the line of the Ocmulgee River, Macon is the county seat of Bibb County and had a 2014 estimated population of 153,691. Macon is the city of the Macon metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 231,259 in 2014. In a 2012 referendum, voters approved the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County, the two governments officially merged on January 1,2014. Macon is served by three highways, I-16, I-75, and I-475. The city has several institutions of education, as well as numerous museums. The area is served by the Middle Georgia Regional Airport and the Herbert Smart Downtown Airport, the mayor of Macon is Robert Reichert, a former Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Reichert was elected mayor of the consolidated city of Macon–Bibb. Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the historic Creek Indians lived in the 18th century and their prehistoric predecessors, the Mississippian culture, built a powerful chiefdom based on an agricultural village and constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, burial and religious purposes. The areas along the rivers in the Southeast had been inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived. Macon developed at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built from 1806–1809 at the line of the Ocmulgee River to protect the new frontier. The fort was named in honor of Benjamin Hawkins, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for more than two decades and he lived among the Creek and had a Creek wife. This was the most inland point of navigation on the river from the Low Country, president Thomas Jefferson forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River and ordered the fort built. A gathering point of the Creek and American cultures for trading, it was also a center of state militia, the fort served as a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 against Great Britain and also during the Creek War of 1813. Afterward, the fort was used as a trading post for years and was garrisoned until 1821. It was decommissioned about 1828 and later burned to the ground, a replica of the southeast blockhouse was built in 1938 and stands today on a hill in east Macon. Part of the site is occupied by the Fort Hawkins Grammar School
11.
Savannah, Georgia
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Savannah is the oldest city in the U. S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia, a strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgias fifth-largest city and third-largest metropolitan area, Downtown Savannah largely retains the original town plan prescribed by founder James Oglethorpe. Savannah was the host city for the sailing competitions during the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta. On February 12,1733, General James Oglethorpe and settlers from the ship Anne landed at Yamacraw Bluff and were greeted by Tomochichi, the Yamacraws, Mary Musgrove often served as an interpreter. The city of Savannah was founded on that date, along with the colony of Georgia, in 1751, Savannah and the rest of Georgia became a Royal Colony and Savannah was made the colonial capital of Georgia. By the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Savannah had become the southernmost commercial port of the Thirteen Colonies, British troops took the city in 1778, and the following year a combined force of American and French soldiers failed to rout the British at the Siege of Savannah. The British did not leave the city until July 1782, Savannah, a prosperous seaport throughout the nineteenth century, was the Confederacys sixth most populous city and the prime objective of General William T. Shermans March to the Sea. Early on December 21,1864, local authorities negotiated a surrender to save Savannah from destruction. Savannah was named for the Savannah River, which derives from variant names for the Shawnee. The Shawnee destroyed another Native people, the Westo, and occupied their lands at the head of the Savannah Rivers navigation on the fall line and these Shawnee, whose Native name was Ša·wano·ki, were known by several local variants, including Shawano, Savano, Savana and Savannah. Still other theories suggest that the name Savannah originates from Algonquian terms meaning not only southerners, Savannah lies on the Savannah River, approximately 20 mi upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 108.7 square miles. Savannah is the port on the Savannah River and the largest port in the state of Georgia. It is also located near the U. S. Intracoastal Waterway, Georgias Ogeechee River flows toward the Atlantic Ocean some 16 miles south of downtown Savannah. Savannahs climate is classified as humid subtropical, in the Deep South, this is characterized by long and almost tropical summers and short, mild winters. Savannah records few days of freezing temperatures each year, due to its proximity to the Atlantic coast, Savannah rarely experiences temperatures as extreme as those in Georgias interior. Nevertheless, the temperatures have officially ranged from 105 °F, on July 20,1986, down to 3 °F
12.
Athens, Georgia
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Athens is a consolidated city–county in the U. S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former city of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia, the flagship public research university, is located in this college town. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the city abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County. As of the 2010 census, the consolidated city-county had a population of 115,452. Athens is the sixth-largest city in Georgia, and the city of the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Athens-Clarke County has the smallest geographical area of a county in Georgia, in the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the Oconee River called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is located today. On January 27,1785, the Georgia General Assembly granted a charter by Abraham Baldwin for the University of Georgia as the first state-supported university. Sixteen years later, in 1801, a committee from the board of trustees selected a site for the university on a hill above Cedar Shoals in what was then Jackson County. On July 25, John Milledge, one of the trustees and later governor of Georgia, bought 633 acres from Daniel Easley, Milledge named the surrounding area Athens after the city that was home to the academy of Plato and Aristotle in Greece. The first buildings on the University of Georgia campus were made from logs, the town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school. By the time the first class graduated from the university in 1804, completed in 1806 and named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin College was the University of Georgias and the City of Athens first permanent structure. This brick building is now known as Old College, Athens officially became a town in December 1806 with a government made up of a three-member commission. The university continued to grow, as did the town, with cotton mills fueling the industrial and commercial development, Athens became known as the Manchester of the South after the city in England known for its mills. The university essentially created a reaction of growth in the community which developed on its doorstep. During the American Civil War, Athens became a significant supply center when the New Orleans armory was relocated to what is now called the Chicopee building, fortifications can still be found along parts of the North Oconee River between College and Oconee St. In addition, Athens played a part in the ill-fated Stoneman Raid when a skirmish was fought on a site overlooking the Middle Oconee River near what is now the old Macon Highway. As in many towns, there is a Confederate memorial. It is located on Broad Street, near the University of Georgia Arch, during Reconstruction, Athens continued to grow
