Columbus, Mississippi

Columbus is a city located in Lowndes County, Mississippi. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 25,944. It is the county seat of Lowndes County{{GR|6}}.

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.

Related Topics:
Hernando de Soto - Tombigbee - El Dorado

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Columbus was founded in 1821. Before its incorporation, the town site was referred to informally as Possum Town, which remains its nickname even today. Columbus' 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) eventually became an environmental center for Mississippi University for Women. Early in its history, Columbus was referred to as "Columbus, Alabama" due to a mistaken estimate of the territorial boundary.

Related Topics:
1821 - 1817 - Mississippi University for Women

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One of the first actions taken by the city's founders was to establish a public school, Franklin Academy. This was not unusual except for the fact that Franklin was the state of Mississippi's first public school.

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During the American Civil War, Columbus was a hospital town. As a result, it largely avoided Union attack. Many of the casualties from the Battle of Shiloh were brought there, and thousands were buried in the town's Friendship Cemetery. 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 occassion with the poem The Blue and the Grey.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Battle of Shiloh - May 29 - 1866 - Memorial Day - Francis Miles Finch - The Blue and the Grey

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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.

Related Topics:
Antebellum - Natchez

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Columbus has hosted the 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 three basic flight training bases in the United States, and prized as the only one where regular flight conditions may be experienced. (The other two are in the arid conditions of the desert Southwestern United States). Despite this, CAFB has repeatedly hung in the balance during Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) hearings.

Related Topics:
Columbus Air Force Base - World War II - 1950s - 1960s - Strategic Air Command - Soviet Union - Southwestern United States - Base Realignment and Closure

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Columbus boasted a number of industries during the mid-twentieth century, including the world's largest toilet seat manufactory 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.

Related Topics:
Toilet seat - 2000 - SteelCorr - Eurocopter - Golden Triangle Regional Airport

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Columbus is also the birthplace of famous playwright Tennessee Williams, author of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Related Topics:
Tennessee Williams - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - A Streetcar Named Desire

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His birthplace, formerly the rectory of nearby St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is now the welcome center for Columbus (300 Main St., Columbus).

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