In the late 18th century, a trading settlement on the banks of the Oconee River called Cedar Shoals stood where Athens is today. It was built near an ancient Cherokee trail that crossed the river.

The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth. In 1801, after the Georgia General Assembly granted a charter, future Georgia governor John Milledge bought 633 acres and donated it to the university. Milledge named the surrounding area Athens after the city that was home to the Platonic Academy of Plato and Aristotle in Greece. The first buildings on the campus were made from logs, and the town grew as lots adjacent to the college were sold to raise money for the additional construction of the school.

R.E.M. was formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 85 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.

The Tree That Owns Itself is a white oak tree that, according to legend, has legal ownership of itself and of all land within eight feet (2.4 m) of its base. Also known as the Jackson Oak, it is located at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets. The original tree, thought to have started life between the mid-16th and late 18th century, fell in 1942, but a new tree was grown from one of its acorns and planted in the same location. The current tree is sometimes referred to as the Son of the Tree That Owns Itself.

Since it was named for Athens, Greece--the center of classical learning--Athens, Georgia naturally came to be called: the Classic City.

The world's only double-barreled cannon was built in Athens and is displayed on the grounds of City Hall. The prototype was a spectacular failure in test firings and was never used in combat.

Athens was fortunate not to experience any major battles during the Civil War. Although there were two conflicts known as the Battle of Athens, one was fought in Athens, Alabama, and the other was fought in Athens, Missouri. The closest that the war came were some skirmishes south of town in 1864 with some of Stoneman's Raiders, a Union cavalry force from East Tennessee.

The official mascot is an English Bulldog named Uga, (derived from an abbreviation of the University of Georgia), while the costumed character version of Uga is Hairy Dawg.

In 1909 aviation pioneer Ben T. Epps became Georgia's first aviator when he built a monoplane of his own design, now known as the Epps 1909 Monoplane, and flew it from a hill outside town that would become the Athens-Ben Epps Airport.

Birchmore (1911-2012) was a renowned adventurer from Athens, best known for his 1935 travels around the world on a bicycle. The bicycle, which he named 'Bucephalus', is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Fred was also known for walking down the steps of the Washington Monument on his hands.