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==History==
[[File:Postcard of Steamer "American" on Tombigbee River at Columbus, Mississippi.jpg|thumb|right|Postcard of steamer ''American'' on Tombigbee River at Columbus, c. 1890-1920]]
The first record of the site of Columbus in Western history is found in the annals of the explorer [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)|Hernando de Soto]], who is reputed to have crossed the nearby [[Tombigbee River]] on his search for [[El Dorado]]. However, the site does not enter the main continuity of United States history until December 1810, when [[John Pitchlynn]], the U.S. Indian agent and interpreter for the [[Choctaw]] Nation, moved to [[Plymouth Bluff]], where he built a home, established a farm, and transacted Choctaw Agency business.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
After the [[Battle of New Orleans]], [[Andrew Jackson]] recognized the urgent need for roads to connect New Orleans to the rest of the country. In 1817 Jackson ordered a [[Jackson's Military Road|road]] be built to provide a direct route from [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] to [[New Orleans]]. His surveyor, Captain Hugh Young, chose a place on the Tombigbee River where high ground approached the river on both sides as the location for a ferry to be used for crossing the river when high water prevented fording the river. A military bridge was constructed where the present-day Tombigbee Bridge was later developed in Columbus, Mississippi. Jackson's Military Road opened the way for development in the area.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ward|first1=Rufus|title=Ask Rufus: Andrew Jackson's Military Road|url=http://www.cdispatch.com/opinions/article.asp?aid=28506|publisher=Commercial Dispatch|access-date=22 December 2017|date=4 November 2013|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220210/http://www.cdispatch.com/opinions/article.asp?aid=28506|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Columbus was founded in 1819, and, as it was believed to be in Alabama, it was first officially recognized by an Alabama Legislative act as the Town of Columbus on December 6, 1819.<ref name="A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama">{{cite book |last1=Toulmin |first1=Harry |title=1825 |publisher=Ginn and Curtis |location=Cahawba, Alabama}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherman |first1=Harry L |title=A Very Remarkable Bluff |date=2007 |publisher=Mississippi University for Women |pages=34–45}}</ref> Silas McBee suggested the name ''Columbus''; in return, a small local creek was named after him.<ref>Rowland, Dunbar, ed. ''Mississippi, Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons arranged in Cyclopedic Form'' in three volumes. Vol. 2. Atlanta: Southern Historical Publishing Association, 1907, pp. 134-137.</ref>
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.''{{cn|date=September 2022}}
===Civil War and aftermath===
During the [[American Civil War]], 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]]. 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]].{{cn|date=September 2022}}
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]]. A poet, [[Francis Miles Finch]], read about it in the New York newspapers and commemorated the occasion with the poem "[[Francis Miles Finch|The Blue and the Grey]]".<ref>Fallows, Deborah. [https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/05/a-real-story-of-memorial-day/371497/ "A Real Story of Memorial Day"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613232901/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/05/a-real-story-of-memorial-day/371497/ |date=2017-06-13 }}, ''The Atlantic'', May 2014</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America|last=Bellware|first=Daniel and Richard Gardiner, PhD.|publisher=Columbus State University|year=2014|isbn=978-0-692-29225-9|pages=63–65}}</ref>
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, Mississippi|Natchez]] as the most extensive in Mississippi.<ref>John McBride, ''The Battle of West Point: Confederate Triumph at Ellis Bridge'', The History Press, 2013</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2018}} These antebellum homes may be toured during the annual Pilgrimage, in which the Columbus residences open their homes to tourists from around the country.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
When Union troops approached Jackson, the state capital was briefly moved to Columbus before moving to a more permanent home in [[Macon, Mississippi|Macon]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Governor's Mansion during the Civil War|url=http://www.mdah.ms.gov/senseofplace/2010/11/17/governors-mansion-during-the-civil-war/|access-date=16 December 2017|archive-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222050819/http://www.mdah.ms.gov/senseofplace/2010/11/17/governors-mansion-during-the-civil-war/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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===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.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
Columbus boasted a number of industries during the mid-20th 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 at the [[Golden Triangle Regional Airport]], including the [[Severstal]] mill, the [[American Eurocopter]] factory, the [[Paccar]] engine plant and the [[Aurora Flight Sciences]] facility, are revitalizing the local economy.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
===Recent history===
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==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.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
The city's public high school (under the [[Columbus Municipal School District]]) is [[Columbus High School (Mississippi)|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 Elementary (Columbus, Mississippi)|Franklin Academy Elementary]], founded in 1821.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
Desegregated in 1970, Lee High School received a state award for the high school with the best race relations.{{cn|date=September 2022}} 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.{{cn|date=September 2022}} 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.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
The [[Lowndes County School District (Mississippi)|Lowndes County School District]] operates three high schools—Caledonia, New Hope, and West Lowndes—fed by similarly named elementary and middle schools.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
Columbus has several private schools, including:
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===Transportation===
Columbus lies on U.S. Highways [[US 82|82]] and [[US 45|45]]. It is also served by state routes [[Mississippi State Highway 12|12]], [[Mississippi State Highway 50|50]], [[Mississippi State Highway 69|69]], and [[Mississippi State Highway 182|182]]. 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]]), the [[Norfolk Southern]], 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]].
The city is located on the east bank of the [[Tombigbee River]] and the associated [[Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway]]. [[Columbus Lake (Mississippi)|Columbus Lake]], formed by the [[John C. Stennis Lock and Dam]], is approximately two miles north of downtown. The [[Luxapalila Creek]] 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.{{cn|date=September 2022}}
==Notable people==<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
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