The place where Columbus sits today has been a cultural crossroads for hundreds of years. This diversity of people resulted in Columbus having an almost unique mix of architectural styles in its early buildings.
Columbus grew up on the east bank of the Tombigbee River on land ceded by the Choctaw Nation in the Choctaw Treaty of 1816. After this treaty, the west side of the river remained the Choctaw nation for nearly 15 years and Columbus traders attracted a large Indian trade. Anglo-American settlers arrived in 1817 and with its founding, Columbus became a melting pot of cultures.
Among the Native Americans, the site of Columbus was the crossroads of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek nations. Hernando de Soto’s Spanish expedition crossed the area and set up their winter base camp in the Starkville – West Point area between 1540 and 1541.
The French explorer Henri de Tonti toured the area in 1702. A French army encamped at Plymouth Bluff for three days in 1736 and the British surveyor of West Florida Bernard Romans was here in 1771. The first Anglo-American settlement was established by US Choctaw performer John Pitchlynn at Plymouth Bluff in 1810.
In the early days of the city of Columbus, there was a cultural mix of people of French and Spanish roots who came to Tombigbee from Mobile and met settlers of English and Scottish roots who came overland from Tennessee and Georgia.
Many early Columbus business contracts even stipulated that payment must be made in Spanish or Mexican money. Spanish coins are sometimes found in the area and I even found a Spanish coin from 1790 in an 1820s house in downtown Columbus. In this mix were found the Choctaws and Chickasaws who were already here and had started trading with Columbus dealers.
Many Columbus dealers opposed the expulsion of the Indians in the 1830s because the Choctaws and Chickasaws had been good customers. The legacy of this intermingling of cultures is reflected in the architecture of Columbus.
The city of Columbus arose where the southwestern end of a series of hills known as Pleasant Ridge met the Tombigbee River. The city’s origins are linked to John Pitchlynn’s 1810 residence across the river, which was also home to Fort Smith. Fort Smith was a small but important log home built during the Creek Indian War in 1813.
In 1817, Andrew Jackson’s Military Road Survey from Nashville to New Orleans placed their Tombigbee Ferry (at Pitchlynn’s suggestion) where Pleasant Ridge met the river.
A man named Thomas Thomas built the first house with a view of the ferry crossing in the fall of 1817. By the summer of 1819 a congregation called Columbus had been established there by Silas McBee.
McBee, who moved to the future Columbus site in 1817, represented Marion County, Alabama, in the Alabama Legislature. The state line was not surveyed until late 1820 and it was assumed that Columbus was in Alabama.
In these early formative days of settlement, most of the buildings were made of logs. Among the Indians, the town was known as Possum Town because the local shopkeeper Spirus Roach resembled an opossum in the face.
The earliest local structure known to have been described is the 1813 log cabin at Fort Smith. It was dismantled in 1860 and in 1910 HS Halbert described it as “a two-story building, about six meters square, made of large cedar logs … there was a door to the lower floor but no windows. There were a few holes on either side of the door that were apparently intended for riflemen. The upper floor had eight windows, two on each side, and two holes under each window. “
This described a typical log cabin from the time of the 1812 war.
The first building that actually stood on Columbus ‘site was Thomas Thomas’ log cabin from 1817, where Spirus Roach later had his shop. In 1848 Oscar Keeler described the building simply as a “little log splitter hut”. It was roughly where the Visit Columbus office is now on 3rd Street South.
Most of the structures prior to 1821 were made of wood, although there were some frame structures. The first half-timbered house in Columbus was built by Gideon Lincecum in 1819. The first brick house in Columbus was likely built by Silas McBee in the early 1820s. It was demolished to make the parking lot on Third Avenue North east of the Franklin Academy.
In the mid-1820s, Columbus’ cultural diversity was evident in the city’s architecture. The architectural legacy of Columbus is unusual in that not only are there the traditional architectural styles, but local builders often mix different styles too.
Architectural historian Ken P’Pool has described a unique local mix of Greek, Gothic, Italian and sometimes octagonal styles as “original design” which he calls “Columbus Eclectic”.
With more than 650 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Columbus is an architectural treasure trove. The oldest surviving homes of various styles from the 19th century provide an excellent record of early Mississippi architecture. Several border log houses have been preserved, although they are buried in later houses.
The earliest surviving house is the Cedars, a log cabin built around 1818 on Military Road two miles north of the original city limits. Around 1835 the cedars were enlarged and redesigned in the style of the Greek rebirth.
Other early Columbus structures reflect a wide range of 19th century architectural styles. There are the Creole-influenced elevated cottages, with the Ole Homestead (circa 1825) being the oldest surviving example and the oldest known surviving house in the original city limits. It is reminiscent of Madam John’s Legacy, a French colonial house from 1789 in New Orleans.
The brick Cartney Hunt house on Seventh Street South was built circa 1828 and has the appearance of a federal-style row house that you would find on the east coast such as Old Town Alexandria, Virginia Corner Cottage (circa 1830). reflects a transition from the federal style to the Greek revival. Temple Heights (circa 1839) is a federal-style Carolina side-hall house that has been converted into a Greek revival.
Twelve Gables was built around 1837 and is a house of early Greek revival. An early example of an Italian cottage is the Amzi Love house from 1848. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, completed in March 1859, is an example of an English-style Gothic style. The church was consecrated in 1860, but the use of the Building had started in March 1859.
The Catholic Church of the Annunciation is a French Gothic style rarely found in the south. Whitehall is a strictly masculine Greek Revival style house that is more common in the north. The octagon style is represented by Snowdoun, which was built in 1854.
Unique Columbus eclectic style houses that mix Gothic, Italianate, and Greek Revival include the Fort House, Shadowlawn, Errolton, Sunnyside, and White Arches. This unique style may have been the creation of Columbus architects William O’Neal, whose surviving work is represented by Sunnyside or James Lull, who built Camilla Place and several other surviving Greek Revival-style houses in 1847 such as Whitehall and Riverview.
Columbus has a culturally diverse architectural heritage that is reflected in hundreds of preserved homes from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a legacy of the rich history of an early intermingling of cultures in the city’s early days.
Thanks to Ken P’Pool and Carolyn Kaye for suggestions on this column.
Rufus Ward is a native of Columbus and local historian. Email your local history questions to Rufus at [email protected]
