Columbus.
1 City (2020 pop. 206,922), seat of Muscogee co., W Ga., at the
head of navigation on the Chattahoochee River; settled and inc. 1828 on the
site of a Creek village. The second largest city in the state, Columbus is a
port of entry situated at the foot of a series of falls that extend more
than 30 mi (48 km) and have provided extensive water power. An important
industrial and shipping center with many giant textile mills (the first was
built in 1838), it also has ironworks and food-processing plants. Factories
produce lumber, chemicals, furniture, hospital equipment, concrete, and
wood, rubber, paper, and metal products. Columbus was a busy river port
until the arrival of the railroads in the 1850s. Its river traffic has been
revitalized with the completion of a series of locks and dams that provide
access to the Gulf of Mexico. During the Civil War, Columbus was captured by
Union troops one week after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Its industry grew
with the development of 20th-century hydroelectric power plants. Many
antebellum homes and Columbus College are in the city. Fort Benning is to
the south.
2 City (2020 pop. 50,474), seat of Bartholomew co., S central Ind., on the East Fork
of the White River; inc. 1821. Its many manufactures include transportation
equipment, pharmaceutical and medical devices, food and beverages, plastics,
and electronics. In the Civil War, Columbus served as a depot for Union
armies. The city is known for its outstanding architecture, with many
buildings designed by world-renowned architects from the late 1930s
onward.
3 City (2020 pop. 24,084), seat of Lowndes co., NE Miss., on the Tombigbee River;
inc. 1821. It is the trade, processing, and shipping center of a cotton,
livestock, dairy, and timber area, and has marble and granite processing and
diverse manufacturing. Franklin Academy, the first free school in the state,
was opened in 1821. Mississippi Univ. for Women and Columbus Air Force Base
are there. The city has many beautiful antebellum homes. Tennessee Williams was born there.
4 City (2020 pop. 905,748), state capital and seat of Franklin co., central Ohio, on
the Scioto River; inc. as a city 1834. Ohio's largest city, it is a
transportation, industrial, and trade center in a fertile farm region. Its
manufactures include consumer goods, aircraft, engines, transportation
equipment, glass, food, textiles, and primary metals. Government agencies
and many research and educational centers are central to the economy, which
expanded rapidly from the 1940s. Columbus is the seat of Ohio State Univ.,
Capital Univ., Ohio Dominican College, Franklin Univ., state schools for the
deaf and blind, and Battelle Memorial Institute (for industrial research).
Landmarks include the state capitol; the state office building and its
library; Ohio State Univ.'s huge Ohio Stadium; the Columbus Gallery of Fine
Arts; the Center of Science and Industry, a science museum designed by Arata
Isozaki; the
postmodern convention center designed by Peter Eisenman; the library and
museum of the state archaeological and historical society; the headquarters
of the American Rose Society, with one of the world's largest rose gardens;
Camp Chase Confederate cemetery, with the graves of soldiers who died in the
Civil War prison camp there; and the vast state fair grounds. The Griggs,
O'Shaughnessy, and Hoover reservoirs are centers for park and recreational
activities. The city also has a professional hockey team (the Blue Jackets),
racetracks, and a variety of annual cultural events.
Columbus was laid out as state capital in 1812 but did not take over the government from Chillicothe until 1816. Its growth was stimulated by the development of transportation facilities—a feeder canal to the Ohio and Erie Canal, which was opened in 1831; the National Road, which reached the city in 1833; and the railroad, which arrived in 1850.
See G. E. Condon, Yesterday's Columbus (1977).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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