The area was explored in 1607 by English settlers from the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River.

[6] In 1625, representatives of Plymouth Colony chose the east shore of the Kennebec for a trading post, which was likely built in 1628 and became known as "Cushnoc".

[6] The Kennebec Proprietors, successors to the Plymouth Company, built Fort Western near the site of the abandoned trading post in 1754 and began settlement efforts.

[8] Located on the Kennebec River at the head of tide, it is the principal city in the Augusta-Waterville micropolitan statistical area and home to the University of Maine at Augusta.

[9] Because of the city's position on the Kennebec, downtown Augusta is vulnerable to floods in spring.

[10] Bond Brook runs from northwest to southeast through the city center, and has been called the "Home of wild Atlantic Salmon".

[11] Augusta State Airport serves the city, offering both commercial service and general aviation.

Twenty-one years later, English settlers from the Plymouth Colony settled in the area in 1628 as part of a trading post on the Kennebec River.

The settlement was known by its Native American name Cushnoc (or Coussinoc or Koussinoc), meaning "head of the tide".

Fur trading was at first profitable, but because of Native uprisings and declining revenues, Plymouth Colony sold the Kennebec Patent[discuss] in 1661.

During the height of the French and Indian War, in 1754, the English colonists built a blockhouse named Fort Western at Cushnoc on the eastern bank of the Kennebec River.

It was intended as a supply depot for Fort Halifax upriver, as well as a regional defense from French attack.

[14] Later, during the American Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold and his 1,100 troops would use Fort Western as a staging area before continuing their journey up the Kennebec to the Battle of Quebec.

[17] Other Augusta firms produced lumber, sash, doors, window shutters, broom handles, stone cutters' tools, shoes, headstones, ice and furniture.

Fort Western has not had troops garrisoned there since the 1790s, but in 1828, the U.S. Government built an arsenal to protect their interests from Britain.

During the Civil War, Augusta was a rendezvous point for Union soldiers traveling to the front.

In the early 20th century, Augusta built two movie houses and a film production studio.

For much of Augusta's history, the central business district was on and near Water Street on the west bank of the Kennebec River.

In 1890, the first trolley line began operation down Water Street, connecting Augusta with Gardiner and Hallowell to the south.

With the completion of the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 in 1955, local commercial developments began to move away from Water Street and closer to the highway.

Augusta borders the towns of Manchester to its west, Sidney and Vassalboro to its north, Windsor to its east, Chelsea to its south, and the city of Hallowell to its southwest.

Summers are typically warm, rainy, and humid, while winters are cold, windy, and snowy.

Spring and fall are usually mild, but conditions are widely varied, depending on wind direction and jet stream positioning.

The mayor presides at all meetings of the council, and is recognized ceremonially as the official head of the city.

The city maintains a police department; it is remarkable for not having had an officer killed in the line of duty for over a century.

Farrington, Gilbert, Hussey, and Lincoln are the four public elementary schools that are located in the city.

WCBB channel 10, licensed to Augusta, is the local television outlet for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

Augusta State Airport (AUG), in the western part of the city, has commercial flights.