On a whim, I took advantage of this fine February Friday to take a jaunt up to Columbus and see a few sites and meet a few people. Columbus isn’t as old as Natchez, but by the 1850s, Columbus had enough fine and opulent houses to rival the older town. Columbus was named one of the National Trust’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations in 2008. If you’re in the neighborhood, you should take advantage of the upcoming Columbus Pilgrimage starting March 30. Here’s what I saw on my trip:
Luckily MDOT has recently graveled Hwy 25, so it's a quick trip to Columbus! (Note: this image does not represent the actual Hwy 25)
The collapsing ruins of Gum Branch School in Winston County. Goodbye old friend. . .
The painters and roofers were out sprucing up White Arches (1857), one of the most distinctive Italianate houses in the state. This house will be on the Pilgrimage this year--don't miss it!
Built in 1847, Riverview was designed by James Lull, who is also responsible for a number of other antebellum landmarks in Columbus. Riverview is a National Historic Landmark and a truly amazing house.
For my Modernist fix, I went downtown to stare at Ruth's Dept. Store (now vacant unfortunately)
On my way back home, I took a detour through the somewhat depopulated rural community of Betheden. The school, which had been used as a community center, now seems to be abandoned.
Betheden auditorium
Betheden Store
Signs of life
THE END
Wouldn’t that Ruth’s be cool set up like back in the day but of coarse with new stuff. or even cooler as a second hand store that was all vintage. I guess that would be alot of work though to find things all vintage.
Now that is one thing that I do like “modern” the old stores. Beaufort had one downtown but the funny thing was is that they still had things from the 1980′s that were still in there original boxes, that they were still trying to sell (old lingerie, not used, haha and stone washed Levi’s) and not because they were vintage (did we go there when you visited? ) It was cool but weird.
Posted by grace130 | February 24, 2009, 7:48 amMaybe you should start the vintage store–I’d be your business manager and financier. You’d do great! My vintage store would probably look like that sad 1980s store that you didn’t take me to.
I agree that dept stores should be Modern; also car dealerships and electronics stores. The style just goes with those somehow.
Posted by ELMalvaney | February 24, 2009, 7:01 pm