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. . .
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)
Betheden auditorium
Betheden Store
Signs of life
THE END
Categories: "To . . . and Back", Columbus, Cool Old Places, Schools, Urban/Rural Issues
Preservation in Mississippi 
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.
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Maybe 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.
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Poor Columbus. I don’t care what you say, it has gone down hill so fast. I remember shopping at Ruth’s when we would drive from Tupelo to Georgia. My in laws owned a furniture and appliance store right down the block from Ruth’s. It opened in the middle 50’s. Downtown business almost nonexistent, and there is not enough money to support a business in that old building.
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The Ruth’s building is now a restaurant, and the town it doing well. I feel like you missed a lot of Columbus’s history. Home/birthplace of Tennessee Williams, and Friendship Cemetery where Memorial Day was started, Mississippi University for Women the first publicly funded women’s college! You had a really odd/limited view of Columbus!
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