Hundreds of Historic Houses Grace Columbus
historic homes, national register of historic places, real estate,
Some cities have one or two homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Columbus has hundreds.
Because it never hosted a Civil War battle, Columbus has numerous pre-Civil War homes that still stand today. Many of those antebellum homes date back to the 1820s and 1830s, and the city is graced with several Victorian mansions as well.
“Many of our homes were constructed during the 19th century, when the cotton industry made quite a few people rich,” says Nancy Carpenter, program manager for the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation. “Virtually all architectural styles are represented in town, and all contribute to the historic value of Columbus. By the way, two of our old homes – Riverview and Waverley Mansion – have also been named to the prestigious list of National Historic Landmarks.”
Carpenter says Columbus has three distinct historic districts– Southside, Downtown and Burns Bottom.
“The Southside historic district features homes and historic structures stretching from the Tombigbee River to 14th Street and all the way down to 8th Avenue South,” she says.
“Meanwhile, the Downtown Historic District encompasses a lot of homes along Main Street, while the Burns Bottom Historic District has nice houses as well as the city’s very popular farmers market.”
Two of the more visited attractions in Columbus are the birthplace of playwright Tennessee Williams and the home of Confederate Gen. Stephen D. Lee.
“The Tennessee Williams home now serves as the Columbus Welcome Center on Main Street,” Carpenter says. “Meanwhile, Stephen D. Lee was a Confederate general who carried out the order for the first shots to be fired at Fort Sumter, thereby starting the Civil War. He eventually married a girl from Columbus, Regina Harrison, and moved into the mansion.”
Lee also became the first president of Mississippi State University, and his home now includes the only public museum in Columbus. Meanwhile, other well-visited historic sites include Main Street Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church and the Mississippi University for Women, which is the oldest state-supported college for women in the nation, founded in 1884.
“We have great fun promoting our many sites here in town,” Carpenter says. “For example, each April we host a 12-day Columbus Spring Pilgrimage to Homes, Gardens and Churches, and that event will turn 70 years old in 2010. During the 2008 Spring Pilgrimage, we had people from 48 states and 19 countries in attendance.”
Carpenter adds that a Historic Columbus Fall Tour of Homes will also be added to the tourism lineup beginning in 2009, with those dates set for Oct. 1-4.
“The bottom line is that Columbus is a beautiful city with beautiful homes,” she says. “We like to show them off, and people from all over the world certainly like to tour them.”
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Story by Kevin Litwin
