The renaming of Augusta’s military base to Fort Eisenhower is happening Oct. 27, and the city has a small but vital role in the effort.
“As part of that change, they’ve asked for engagement though the city and this body to assist with education,” Mayor Garnett Johnson said last week.
According to correspondence about the change, city leaders are asked to “alert the installation of any negative thoughts or feedback.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. president and World War II general who frequented Augusta National Golf Club, is the post’s new namesake.
He replaces Gen. John Brown Gordon, the Confederate general who served a term as governor and in the U.S. Senate after the Civil War.
Fort Gordon is the area’s largest employer at more than 30,000 but is accessed largely by state routes, for which Georgia Department of Transportation is responsible.
Gordon Highway, the multilane “super highway” that opened in 1955 between downtown and the post, is a primary access road.
As a state route, any signage changes are the responsibility of GDOT, Augusta Traffic Engineer John Ussery told the commission.
The Department of Defense left any renaming of associated roads such as Gordon Highway as “a local community decision,” and “won’t advocate” for a change, according to correspondence.
A task force commissioned by former Mayor Hardie Davis in 2020 opined Gordon Highway and other Confederate-themed landmarks should be renamed.
Ussery said his department was in communications with GDOT about necessary signage changes. GDOT officials did not respond to recent requests for comment.
Augusta’s responsibility will be to replace auxiliary street signs that direct motorists to Fort Gordon, he said. Each costs about $135, he said.
“We’ve already started to inventory the signs, and we should have that done shortly. It doesn’t take us too long to make new signs and have them installed, so by the time the October deadline comes around, we’ll be ready,” Ussery said.
The Army is already using the new name in some communications. According to the Department of Defense’s Naming Commission report, changing Fort Gordon’s name to Fort Eisenhower will cost around $580,000.
The post has numerous assets with the Gordon name, such as Gordon Lakes Golf Course and Gordon Lanes Bowling Center, all of which will need new signs and literature.
Fort Gordon is also home to Alexander Hall, named for Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander, who resigned the U.S. Army to join the Confederacy.
