The Augusta Chronicle celebrates its 220th birthday Aug. 30, 2005, an age that allows it to call itself "The South's Oldest Newspaper."

The Chronicle began as the weekly Augusta Gazette in 1785, and has directly and indirectly shaped a number of local events.

Its second owner and publisher, John Erdman Smith, molded the newspaper into a public forum. He placed a quote from the Georgia constitution on the newspaper's masthead: “Freedom of the Press, and Trial by Jury, to remain inviolate forever.”

While the saying eventually disappeared, later publishers, including Patrick Walsh, remained true to its spirit.

As editor of the newspaper, Walsh fought for black civil rights and campaigned against lynching, both unpopular stances for the era. His statue now stands in front of the old federal courthouse.

The Chronicle's ownership entered the Morris family's hands in 1945, when William S. Morris Jr. and Charlotte, N.C., financier Herman A. Moore purchased a controlling interest in the Chronicle Publishing Co. Ten years later, Morris and his wife, Florence Hill Morris, bought Moore's share of the stock.

Morris acquired the Chronicle's afternoon rival, the Augusta Herald, in 1955.

In 1966, Morris' eldest son, William S. Morris III, assumed control of Southeastern Newspapers Corp. as its president. He also became the publisher of the Chronicle and Herald.

Under the guidance of Morris and his family, the Chronicle has flourished. The newspaper has won acclaim for its coverage of the Masters Golf Tournament, and it has won many state and national awards, including the Georgia Press Association's top General Excellence Award in 1993.

The Augusta Herald ceased publication in 1993, a victim, like many afternoon newspapers, of changing reader habits.