Columbus, Georgia, USA
1854 - Columbus

Columbus, a flourishing city of Georgia, and seat of justice of Muscogee county, on the left (E.) bank of the Chattahoochee river, 90 miles W. S. W. from Macon, 128 miles W. S. W. from Milledgeville, and 290 miles W. from Savannah. The city is laid out in oblong blocks of 4 acres, each of which is divided into eight square lots. It extends one mile and a quarter in the direction of the river, and about half a mile to wards the interior. The court house is one of the finest buildings of its class in the state. Many of the private houses are well built and pleasantly embowered with trees. Columbus contains 7 or 8 places of worship, 1 orphan asylum, a number of excellent schools, and 3 or 4 newspaper offices. A hand some bridge extends across the river and connects the city with the village of Girard. It is the third city of the state in population and wealth, and has an advantageous position for trade and manufactures. The river, which in this part of its course forms the boundary between Georgia and Alabama, is navigable for steamboats from this point to the Gulf of Mexico, during eight months of the year. These boats each carry nbout 900 bales of cotton on an average, and usually run from November to the end of June. The cotton shipped at this place amounts to about 80,000 bales in a year. The bed of the river opposite Columbus is filled by large and rugged rocks, which form a succession of rapids, and produce abundant water- power. Considerable capital has been in vested in hydraulic improvements, and in the erection of manufactories, and it is thought Columbus will become one of the greatest manufacturing towns in the Southern States. A dam 500 feet long has been built across the river. There were in 1850, 4 cotton factories, 1 paper mill, 1 cotton-gin factory, 1 woollen factory, 2 iron foundries, several mills, 8 bnnks and 1 manufactory of farming implements. Columbus is the terminus of the Muscogee railroad, opened in 1852, which connects with other lines leading to Macon and Savannah. Another railroad has been commenced which leads from this place to some point on Mobile bay. Laid out in 1828. Population in 1850, 5942, in l853, about 7000.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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