To preserve and protect

Part of what makes the Masters Tournament such a revered sporting event is its rich history. And yet another aspect of what makes the city of Augusta so special is its increasing reverence toward other aspects of its own history.

And with roots dating to 1736, that's a lot of ground to cover.

Augusta is Georgia's Second City -- Savannah being founded just three years before Augusta, and by the same man, Gen. James Oglethorpe.

Savannah has a downtown historic district shaded by live oaks, paved with brick and graced with beautiful homes erected long ago in classic architectural styles.

That was decades in the making. The small group of women who founded the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955 set the ball rolling to turn Savannah's historic district into one of the nation's best.

Historic Augusta was chartered 10 years later, and their mission is identical: Identify the city's significant historic properties, and advocate and assist in their preservation. This group and others are responsible for maintaining so many of the city's impressive older buildings -- many of which can be visited by out-of-towners who would like a break from this week's flurry of activity at the tournament.

Augusta has five historic districts. The downtown district, bisected by Broad Street, mostly takes in an area about four or five blocks wide from Fifth to 13th streets, and it's chock full of renovated buildings..

Further east down Broad is Olde Town, a neighborhood with streets lined with brightly painted homes in many 19th-century architectural styles.

Just a few blocks behind the Augusta National Golf Club is Summerville, a historic district with even more private homes -- many of them large, but inviting rather than imposing, and others delightfully small. One of the most striking buildings is now the Alan Fuqua Center for Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church, but which was first built in the 1840s as a family estate known simply as Montrose.

Another district combines the Laney-Walker and Bethlehem neighborhoods, centered on a downtown portion of Laney-Walker Boulevard. It is dotted with many carefully cared-for older residences that harken to the city's multi-ethnic history.

And in the Harrisburg-West End and Woodlawn district, near the eastern end of the John C. Calhoun Expressway, people moving into the neighborhood are increasingly dedicated to Historic Augusta's mission of preserving and maintaining some of the city's oldest buildings.

This week, the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering guided driving historical tours of Augusta -- 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Each tour departs from the Augusta Museum of History, at 560 Reynolds St. downtown.

The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. To reserve a spot on the tour, call (706) 724-4067.

History is just as much about where we've been as where we're going. The city is cleaving more closely every day to its historic roots, and the preservation of our most historic buildings for continued, productive use speaks well not only for our past, but also for a bright future.