Columbus, Mississippi
Posted by: 
JacobBarlow
N 33° 30.100 W 088° 24.900
16S E 368564 N 3707800
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States on the Tombigbee River. It is approximately 175 miles northeast of Jackson, 193 kilometers 120 miles north of Meridian, 102 kilometers 63 miles south of Tupelo...
Waymark Code: WM2TH4
Location: Mississippi, United States
Date Posted: 12/20/2007
Views: 68
History
The first record of the site of Columbus in Western history is found in the annals of the explorer Hernando de Soto, who is reputed to have crossed the Tombigbee nearby on his search for El Dorado.
The first trading post here was created in 1783, but there may have been European settlements predating that by a few decades in the general area of north eastern Mississippi.
Founding
Columbus was founded in 1821 by Matthew Alexander and his dog Bigbee (duely named for the Tombigbee river). Before its incorporation, the town site was referred to informally as Possum Town, which remains its nickname even today. Columbus's existence owed to the failure of a flooded settlement across the river, Plymouth, which was established in 1817. The Plymouth Bluff (above the ruined settlement) is today an environmental center for Mississippi University for Women. The survivors of the flood moved to a site occupied by Thomas Moore and Dr. Gideon Lincenum. Silas McBee suggested the name Columbus; in return, a small local creek bears McBee's name.
One of the first actions taken by the city's founders was to establish a public school, Franklin Academy. As the territory had achieved statehood only a year previously, Franklin thus became Mississippi's first public school. However, this fact was not immediately recognized; early in its history, Columbus was referred to as Columbus, Alabama due to a mistaken estimate of the territorial boundary.
Civil War and aftermath
During the American Civil War, Columbus was a hospital town. However, Columbus also had an arsenal that made gunpowder, hand guns and a few cannons. Because of this the Union tried to invade Columbus more than once but was stopped by General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Many of the casualties from the Battle of Shiloh were brought there, and thousands were buried in the town's Friendship Cemetery. One of the hospitals was located at the still-operating Annunciation Catholic Church, built in 1863. The decision of a group of ladies to decorate the Union and Confederate graves with flowers together on May 29, 1866 is credited as part of the founding of Memorial Day. (Similar ideas occurred to other groups in several other towns on the same weekend.) A poet, Francis Miles Finch, happened to be in town that day and commemorated the occasion with the poem "The Blue and the Grey".
Another result of Columbus's history as a hospital town was the sparing of its antebellum homes, making its collection second only to Natchez as the most extensive in Mississippi.
20th century
Columbus has hosted Columbus Air Force Base (CAFB) since World War II. CAFB was founded as a flight training school. After a stint in the 1950s and 1960s as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base (earning Columbus a spot in Soviet Union target lists), CAFB returned to its original role. Today, it is one of only four basic Air Force flight training bases in the United States, and prized as the only one where regular flight conditions may be experienced. Despite this, CAFB has repeatedly hung in the balance during Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) hearings.
Columbus boasted a number of industries during the mid-twentieth century, including the world's largest toilet seat manufacturer, Sanderson Plumbing Products, and major mattress, furniture, and textile plants. Most of these had closed by 2000. A series of new plants, capped by the proposed SteelCorr minimill, have been planned to revitalize the local economy. American Eurocopter has constructed a facility at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. Aurora Flight Sciences is planning on locating at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
Columbus is the birthplace of famous playwright Tennessee Williams, author of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire. His birthplace, formerly the rectory of nearby St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is now the welcome center for Columbus (300 Main St., Columbus). Columbus is also the birthplace of baseball announcer Red Barber and boxing's first three-time world heavyweight champion, Henry Armstrong.
Recent history
Columbus has made the national news at least three times in the past two decades. On June 12, 1990, a fireworks factory exploded, detonating a blast felt as far as 30 miles away from Columbus. Two workers were killed in the blast. On June 26, 2000, the television show 48 Hours did an investigative report of five murders of senior citizens occurring in an 18-month period between late 1997 and early 1999. On February 16, 2001, straight winds measured at 74 miles per hour destroyed many homes and trees but fortunately resulted in no fatalities. The city was declared a federal disaster area the next day by President George W. Bush.
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