The Columbus Historic Riverfront Industrial District encompasses one of the most significant assemblages of 19th-century waterpowered mill technology in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. A

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, it includes five historic industrial complexes with elements surviving as far back as the 1830s, located in four separate areas along the eastern bank of the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1978. and

History

The city of Columbus is located at the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

of the Chattahoochee River, a place where the river drops in a stretch of . This location was recognized early in the

American Industrial Revolution The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the United States' emergence as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. The availability of land and literate labor, the absence of a landed arist ...

as a prime location for waterpowered factories, and the river was first dammed in 1828 (by a predecessor to the now-breached City Mills Dam), beginning what became one of the South's largest 19th-century industrial complexes. Embedded in five major industrial sites are the remains of industrial components used in the transfer of water power, and for the early generation and transfer of electrical power. Included in these are the Eagle and Phenix Mills, once the South's largest textile operation. Columbus was a powerhouse of manufacturing for the Confederacy 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 states th ...

Bibb Mill

The main building of the Bibb Mill complex is a long five-story brick building, set on a bluff overlooking the river. Although it is an early 20th-century building, one of the smaller buildings in the complex includes remnants of a pulley and rope drive system. This system was used until 1954, when its main drive shaft broke.

City Mills

The City Mills complex was built as a grist mill. The oldest building dates to 1869, and was built by Horace King, a well-known regional African-American contractor. The original 1828 dam was replaced in 1908, and the main building was adapted for electrical power generation and distribution. It houses power generators installed in 1919, some of which operated into the 1960s.

Muscogee Mills

The Muscogee Mills include the broadest diversity of architecture of the surviving complexes, including both ornate 19th-century industrial architecture, and utilitarian 20th-century buildings, as well as the city's original Carnegie library. Traces of the original 1844 millrace are also still evident.

Eagle and Phenix Mills

The Eagle and Phenix Mills complex consists of three main mills, oriented perpendicular to the river, all which have origins in 19th-century construction, but have generally been altered or extended. This mill's original raceway and

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

(now breached) also survive to some degree.

Columbus Ironworks

This complex's oldest buildings date to the early 20th century, its older buildings destroyed by fire in 1902. The complex includes several generations of early electrical equipment, including a DC generator and three AC generators. A portion of the property has been converted into a convention and event center.

Endnotes

External links

Historic Columbus web site
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Historic districts in Columbus, Georgia National Register of Historic Places in Muscogee County, Georgia