Columbus, Mississippi boasts three National Register Districts with around 676 properties. The area also boasts one of the greatest concentrations of nineteenth-century residential structures in the state, a virtually complete record of American building styles from the 1820′s through the 1900′s. Additionally, there are significant examples of the adaptations and combinations of architectural designs which are unique to Columbus, known as “Columbus Eclectic”.
You can see it all at the annual Columbus Spring Pilgrimage, an award-winning event that has earned the coveted reputation as one of the best and most authentic historic home tours in the South. The antebellum mansions of Columbus are impeccably maintained as resplendent as ever. Many tour homes feature re-created activities of the 1800′s complete with period costumes, which add even more authenticity to this historic event. It’s an experience visitors will long remember.
Columbus is the birthplace of Tennessee Williams. He spent his beginning years in an 1875 Victorian home in Columbus. In 1993, that home was moved to Main Street and restored. It now serves as a Welcome Center for the city of Columbus.
We are also proud to be the home of Mississippi University for Women, America’s first state-funded public university for women. MUW is also where renowned novelist, Eudora Welty, chose to begin her career, and Columbus served as an inspiration for some of her novels.
A walk through our downtown offers a chance for shopping in the unique boutiques lining Main Street. Visitors can peruse the gallery in the Rosenzweig Arts Center or the newly restored Tennessee Williams Home and Welcome Center, home to the only locally owned bookstore.
Columbus’ location on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway makes it ideal for fishing and other outdoor water recreation. Columbus plays host to a variety of fishing tournaments and wakeboard competitions. The Columbus Riverwalk offers a place for the community and visitors to jog, bird watch, fish, or just relax and take in the beautiful scenery of the Waterway.
Columbus prides itself on keeping up with the times while preserving the past. We continue to break through boundaries and remain pioneers in arts, education, and cultural diversity. Columbus is a place that people are proud to call home.