Columbus is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

, south of Tupelo, northwest of

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

, and west of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

.Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau
The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census and 23,640 in 2010. The population in 2019 was estimated to be 23,573. Columbus is the principal city of the

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Columbus-West Point

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

. Columbus is also part of the area of Mississippi called The Golden Triangle, consisting of Columbus,

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and Starkville, in the counties of Lowndes,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

and Oktibbeha.

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 nearby

on his search for

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or kin ...

. However, the site does not enter the main continuity of United States history until December 1810, when

John Pitchlynn John Pitchlynn served as the official U.S. Interpreter at the Choctaw Agency during the early federal period. Of Scottish-American descent, he had been raised among the Choctaw people. He facilitated relations between the government of the United ...

, the U.S. Indian agent and interpreter for the Choctaw Nation, moved to

Plymouth Bluff Plymouth was an early settlement in Mississippi in present-day Lowndes County. Plymouth was located on the west bank of the Tombigbee River at the mouth of Tibbee Creek. History Local tradition holds that Hernando de Soto camped near the site ...

, where he built a home, established a farm, and transacted Choctaw Agency business. After the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Fren ...

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...

recognized the urgent need for roads to connect New Orleans to the rest of the country. In 1817 Jackson ordered a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

be built to provide a direct route from

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Before its incorporation, the town site was referred to informally as ''Possum Town'', a name which was given by the local Native Americans, who were primarily Choctaw and Chickasaw. The name Possum Town remains the town's nickname among locals. The town was settled where Jackson's Military Road crossed the Tombigbee River 4 miles south of John Pitchlynn's residence at Plymouth Bluff. In 1820 the post office that had been at Pitchlynn's relocated in Columbus. Pitchlynn's which had been settled in 1810 became the town of Plymouth in 1836 and is now the location of an environmental center for Mississippi University for Women. Silas McBee suggested the name ''Columbus''; in return, a small local creek was named after him. The city's founders soon established a school known as Franklin Academy. It continues to operate and is known as Mississippi's first public school. The territorial boundary of Mississippi and Alabama had to be corrected as, a year earlier, Franklin Academy was indicated as being in Alabama. In fact, during its early post-Mississippi-founding history, the city of Columbus was still referred to as ''Columbus, Alabama.''

Civil War and aftermath

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Columbus was a hospital town. Its arsenal manufactured gunpowder, handguns and a few cannons. Because of this, the Union ordered the invasion of Columbus, but was stopped by Confederate General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth ...

. This is substantiated in the book ''The Battle of West Point: Confederate Triumph at Ellis Bridge'' by John McBride. Many of the casualties from the Battle of Shiloh were brought to Columbus. Thousands were eventually buried in the town's Friendship Cemetery. One of the hospitals was located at Annunciation Catholic Church, built in 1863 and still operating in the 21st century. The decision of a group of ladies to decorate the Union and Confederate graves with flowers together on April 25, 1866, is an early example of what became known as

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. A poet, Francis Miles Finch, read about it in the New York newspapers and commemorated the occasion with the poem " The Blue and the Grey". Bellware and Gardiner noted this observance of the holiday in ''The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America'' (2014). They recognized the events in Columbus as the earliest manifestation of an annual spring holiday to decorate the grave of Southern soldiers. While the call was to celebrate on April 26, several newspapers reported that the day was the 25th, in error. As a result of Forrest preventing the Union Army from reaching Columbus, its antebellum homes were spared from being burned or destroyed, making its collection second only to Natchez as the most extensive in Mississippi. These antebellum homes may be toured during the annual Pilgrimage, in which the Columbus residences open their homes to tourists from around the country. When Union troops approached Jackson, the state capital was briefly moved to Columbus before moving to a more permanent home in Macon. During the war, Columbus attorney

Jacob H. Sharp Jacob Hunter Sharp (February 6, 1833 – September 15, 1907Eicher, p. 481.) was a Mississippi lawyer, newspaperman and politician, as well as a general officer, general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He played a ...

served as a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

. After the war, he owned the Columbus ''Independent'' newspaper. He was elected to two terms in the State House, serving four years representing the district in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

WPA mural

The mural ''Out of the Soil'' was completed in 1939 for the Columbus post office by

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing *Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance Ana ...

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

artist Bealah Betterworth. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through "the Section" of the U.S. Treasury Department.

20th century

Columbus has hosted

Columbus Air Force Base Columbus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Columbus, Mississippi. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing (14 FTW), which is a part of Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The residenti ...

(CAFB) since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. CAFB was founded as a flight training school. After a stint in the 1950s and 1960s as a

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile c ...

(SAC) base (earning Columbus a spot in

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the en ...

(BRAC) hearings. Columbus boasted a number of industries during the mid-20th century, including the world's largest

toilet seat A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position (as opposed to a squat toilet). The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry t ...

manufacturer, Sanderson Plumbing Products, and major mattress, furniture and textile plants. Most of these had closed by 2000. A series of new plants at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, including the Severstal mill, the

American Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters, Inc. (AHI) is a subsidiary of Airbus Group, Inc., the United States subsidiary of Airbus. Airbus Helicopters manufactures and markets a broad range of civil helicopters. With large facilities in Texas and Mississippi and servi ...

factory, the

Paccar Paccar Inc is an American ''Fortune'' 500 company and counts among the largest manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the world, and has substantial manufacturing in light and medium vehicles through its various subsidiaries. It was ...

engine plant and the

Aurora Flight Sciences Aurora Flight Sciences is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing which primarily specializes in the design and construction of special-purpose Unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora has been established for 20+ years and th ...

facility, are revitalizing the local economy.

Recent history

On June 12, 1990, a fireworks factory in Columbus exploded, detonating a blast felt as far as 30 miles away from Columbus. Two workers were killed in the blast. On February 16, 2001, straightline winds measured at 74 miles per hour destroyed many homes and trees but resulted in no fatalities. The city was declared a federal disaster area the next day by President George W. Bush. In November 2002, a tornado hit Columbus and caused more damage to the city, including the Mississippi University for Women. In 2010, Columbus won a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In February 2019, Columbus took a direct hit from an EF-3 tornado that caused devastating damage to homes and businesses and killed one woman after a structure fell on her.

Geography

The city is located approximately 10 mi (16 km) west of the Mississippi-Alabama state line along

U.S. Route 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a 1,625-mile (2,615 km) route extending from ...

, U.S. Route 45, and numerous state highways. US 82 leads southeast 29 mi (47 km) to Reform, Alabama and west 25 mi (40 km) to Starkville. US 45 leads south 32 mi (51 km) to Macon and north 28 mi (45 km) to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the city has a total area of 22.3 square miles (57.8 square kilometers), of which 21.4 square miles (55.5 square kilometers) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 square kilometers) is water. Large lakes and rivers are nearby, such as the Buttahatchee River in northern Lowndes County that defines the border between Lowndes and Monroe counties; in the middle of the City of Columbus and Lowndes County lies the

Luxapallila Creek Luxapalila Creek (also spelled Luxapallila Creek) is a stream in Mississippi and Alabama in the United States. ''Luxapalila'' means "flying turtle" in the Choctaw language. The creek drains a watershed of and flows through Lamar County, Mario ...

, and the

with the

John C. Stennis Lock and Dam The John C. Stennis Lock and Dam, formerly named Columbus Lock and Dam, is one of four lock and dam structures on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway that generally lie along the original course of the Tombigbee River. It is located near Columbus, M ...

impounding

Columbus Lake Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "'' Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. Columbus is a relatively flat place in the northern part of Lowndes County, as the land rises for a short period of time into hills and bluffs, in the southern/eastern part of the county, the land has rolling hills that quickly turn into flatland floodplains that dominate this county. This county lies in the Black Prairie Geographic Region, and the Northeastern Hills Region of the state/area. Prairies, forests and floodplain forests lie here. The soil quality is poor in the eastern part of the county, otherwise the soil is relatively fertile. Columbus and the surrounding areas are listed as an Arbor Day Hardiness Zone 8a ( to ); note that temperatures in 2010 reached , but the USDA Hardiness Zones list the area as zone 7b ( to ).

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 24,084 people, 9,572 households, and 5,348 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 23,640 people living in the city. 60.0% were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 37.4%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 0.6% from some other race, and 1.1% of two or more races. 1.4% were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race.

2000 census

Columbus' population has grown steadily since the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1900, 6,484 people lived in Columbus; in 1910, 8,988; in 1920, 10,501; and in 1940, 13,645. As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 25,944 people, 10,062 households, and 6,419 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 1,211.5 people per square mile (467.6/km²). There were 11,112 housing units at an average density of 518.9 per square mile (200.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 43.62%

, 54.41%

, 0.10% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.51% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.13% of the population. There were 10,062 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,393, and the median income for a family was $37,068. Males had a median income of $30,773 versus $20,182 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,848.

Economy

Major Employers: *

. * Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle. * Mississippi University for Women. * Columbus Municipal School District. * Lowndes County School District. * International Paper Columbus Mill and Columbus Modified Fiber. *

Steel Dynamics, Inc. Steel Dynamics, Inc., sometimes abbreviated as "SDI", is an American steel producer based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With a production capacity of 13 million tons of steel, the company is the third largest producer of carbon steel products in the U ...

(steel manufacturer). *

(diesel engines). * American

Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence A ...

(military aircraft). *

Baldor As the US Motors and Generators Business Unit of ABB, ABB Motors and Mechanical Inc. markets, designs, manufactures, and provides service for industrial electric motors, generators and mechanical power transmission products. This business was fo ...

(electric motors). *

AkzoNobel Akzo Nobel N.V., stylized as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries ...

/ Eka Chemicals (sodium chlorate). *

(unmanned defense systems). * Stark Aerospace (unmanned defense systems). * Columbus /

Nammo-Talley (defense systems) Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian/Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switze ...

. *

Valmet Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the St ...

(paper machine rolls and roll covers).

Arts and culture

Columbus is the birthplace of playwright

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

, whose grandfather was the priest of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Williams was born in the rectory on Main Street , which is now the Tennessee Williams Home Museum and Welcome Center.

Education

Columbus is home to a state university, the Mississippi University for Women. The MUW campus is also home to the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, a state-funded public boarding school for academically gifted high school juniors and seniors. The city's public high school (under the Columbus Municipal School District) is Columbus High School, located in the eastern part of town. It is the largest high school in the city and fifth largest in the state, enrolling approximately 1370 students. Columbus High School was formed by the merger of the city's two previous high schools, Stephen D. Lee High School and Caldwell High School; the schools were merged in 1992 and the campuses in 1997. Columbus is also home to the oldest public elementary school in Mississippi, Franklin Academy Elementary, founded in 1821. Desegregated in 1970, Lee High School received a state award for the high school with the best race relations. Prior to desegregation, the school formed a race relations committee consisting of black and white students who could discuss issues and determine how to handle certain situations. For instance, the students decided to have both white and black homecoming courts so as to prevent sides being taken along racial lines. However, black students were allowed to vote for the white homecoming court and vice versa. The school went undefeated in football in 1970, which helped unite the student body. Students were ranked based on achievement score tests and divided into three groups, in order to allow each group to learn at their own pace. This practice was in place prior to integration. It was continued after integration for a period, but such tracking was later ruled to be unconstitutional by a Federal court, because it was based on biased testing. It did not take into account differences in preparation in earlier grades. The Lowndes County School District operates three high schools—Caledonia, New Hope, and West Lowndes—fed by similarly named elementary and middle schools. Columbus has several private schools, including: * Columbus Christian Academy, formerly Immanuel Christian School (K-3 through 12) * Heritage Academy (

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquir ...

) * Annunciation Catholic School (

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, K-8) * Victory Christian Academy (Christian, K-12) * Palmer Home for Children (

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abu ...

)

Media

Columbus' city newspapers are the daily (except Saturdays) '' Commercial Dispatch'', the weekly (Thursdays) '' Columbus Packet'' and the internet-only paper, Real Media (formerly The Real Story). One television station, WCBI-TV 4, the CBS affiliate, is located in the city's historic downtown area; it broadcasts CW and

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

programming on digital subchannels. Two magazines are published in Columbus: '' The New Power Magazine'', a regional urban magazine, and ''

Columbus Fire and Rescue Magazine Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

''. Columbus is also served by television stations from the Columbus / Tupelo / West Point DMA, ranked No. 133 nationally. These include NBC affiliate WTVA 9, its DT2 subchannel which is the market's ABC affiliate, and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

affiliate WLOV-TV 27. Radio Stations include: *103.1 Sports Talk/ESPN Radio *94.1 Top 40 *99.9 Rock *92.1 Hip-Hop & R&B *100.9 Talk Radio (

Supertalk Mississippi Telesouth Communications Inc, also known as SuperTalk Mississippi Media, is an American, commercial radio network based in Jackson, Mississippi. Its stations across Mississippi broadcast either a music format, or conservative news / talk and ...

) *93.3 Easy Listening/Top 40 *104.5 Christian radio/KLOVE

Infrastructure

Transportation

Columbus lies on U.S. Highways 82 and 45. It is also served by state highways 12, 50, 69, and

182 Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

. Columbus is the eastern terminus of the Columbus and Greenville Railway; it is also served by the BNSF Railway (on the original right-of-way of the

St. Louis - San Francisco Railway ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

), the

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

, and the Alabama Southern Railroad (using the original right-of-way of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad). The local airport is Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The airport currently has three flights a day to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. The city is located on the east bank of the

and the associated Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

, formed by the

, is approximately two miles north of downtown. The

Luxapalila Creek Luxapalila Creek (also spelled Luxapallila Creek) is a stream in Mississippi and Alabama in the United States. ''Luxapalila'' means "flying turtle" in the Choctaw language. The creek drains a watershed of and flows through Lamar County, Alabama ...

runs through the town, separating East Columbus from Columbus proper (both are within city limits). The Lux, as it is locally known, joins the Tombigbee about three miles south of downtown.

Notable people

Mike Adams (columnist) Michael Scott Adams (October 30, 1964 – July 23, 2020) was an American conservative political columnist, writer and professor of criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He became known for his outspoken opinions, frequent ...

* Henry Armstrong, world boxing champion *

Roy Ayres Roy Ayres (December 10, 1929 – June 9, 2012) was an American pedal steel guitar player. A Grand Ole Opry musician known for full chords and smooth tone, Ayres played steel guitar on all of Pee Wee King’s major hits, including “The Tennes ...

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

player * Red Barber, sports commentator *

William T. S. Barry William S. Barry (born William Taylor Sullivan Barry; December 10, 1821 – January 29, 1868) was an American politician who served as a Deputy from Mississippi to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. He was ...

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivale ...

from Mississippi * Homer "Billy" Brewer, professional football player *

Terry W. Brown Terry Wayne Brown (March 14, 1950 – September 4, 2014) was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi, who served in the Mississippi Senate, representing the 17th district, and as the Senate President pro tempore. A native ...

, president pro tempore of the Mississippi Senate * Tyson Brummett, professional baseball player * James E. Darnell, biologist * Jacob M. Dickinson, U.S. Secretary of War from 1909 to 1911 * Doughboy, record producer *

Elbert Drungo Elbert J. Drungo, Jr. (April 30, 1943 – October 11, 2014) was an American football offensive lineman for one season in the American Football League (AFL) for the Houston Oilers, then seven more seasons with the Oilers in the National Footb ...

, professional football player * Ean Evans, bass player for

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ( ...

; moved to Columbus *

Leslie Frazier Leslie Antonio Frazier (born April 3, 1959) is an American football coach and former cornerback who is the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the he ...

, professional football player and coach * Charles Fredericks, actor * Luther Hackman, professional baseball player * Arthur Cyprian Harper, 26th mayor of Los Angeles * Robert Ivy, Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Architects * Sam Jethroe, first black baseball player on the Boston Braves roster *

Edward J. C. Kewen Edward J. C. Kewen (November 2, 1825 – November 26, 1879) was a politician in California and the first Attorney General of California. He was Superintendent of the Los Angeles City schools in 1858 and Los Angeles County District Attorney from 18 ...

, member of California State Legislature and first attorney general of California * Stephen D. Lee, Confederate general, first president of Mississippi State University * Jasmine Murray, singer, Miss Mississippi 2014 *

Bobby Richards Robert Griffin Richards (born October 2, 1938) is a former professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played six seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons ...

, professional football player * Andre Rush, celebrity chef and veteran *

, lawyer, newspaperman, politician, and Confederate general; moved to Columbus * Jeff Smith, member of Mississippi House of Representatives * Cordella Stevenson, African-American woman who was raped and lynched by a mob of white men in Columbus in 1915 *

William N. Still Jr. William Norwood Still Jr. (1932 – January 8, 2022) was an American maritime historian. He was the first director of the program in maritime history at East Carolina University and a noted author of works on U.S. Civil War history and U.S. na ...

, maritime historian * Jim Thomas, professional football player * Sedric Toney, professional basketball player * Guy M. Townsend, U.S. Air Force brigadier general, test pilot, and combat veteran * Robert L. Turner, member of Wisconsin State Assembly * James R. Williams, lawyer, politician and jurist *

, playwright * Andrew Wood, musician

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Mississippi Cities in Lowndes County, Mississippi County seats in Mississippi Populated places established in 1821 1821 establishments in Mississippi