The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-10-21
HISTORICAL
FLASHLIGHTS
ON COLUMBUS
HIGH POINTS OF OUR PRO.
GRESS TOUCHED BY CEN
TENNIAL CHAIRMAN
MR.. r. E. JOHNSTON
First House Built In City Was
In 1817.--First Store Estab-
lished in 1819.--Many
Other Facts.

In 1910 Herando DeSoto crossed tn
Tombigbee River near Columbus OF
his expedition to the west, when HI
discovered the Mississippi River. H,
was the first European to tread th'
soil Of this part of the country.
Capt. Bernard Romans, Hollandel
by birth and at one time an Officer
in the British Army, visited this sec.
tion in 1770-1771, on fluyial expedi-
ton down the Tombigbee River.
Fort Choctaw, or Cedar Log Fort
was established at Old Plymouth, near
Columbus by the Spaniards in 1870.
Columbus was formerly an Indian
trading post, known as Shuk-
Tom aha, or 0Possum Town.
The land on which Columbus is To-
Gated was ceded by the Choctaw Ind
ians to the United States Government
on October "a, 1916.
Military Road, extending from New
Orleans, La, Nashville, Tenn, passes
through Columbus. This road was
built by the u. S. War Department
during the years 1817-1820, on the
Recommendation of Gen. Andrew jack
son.
John PitchIyn was the first white
man to reside permanently on the
soil of what is now Lowndes County.
| He was born on the Island Of st.
Thomas in 1860. Previous to his COM
ing to this county he had served as
Government interpreter with the Ind
ians for forty years. He died in 1885.
The first house in Columbus "a log
cabin hutJ was built in 1877 byt
Thomas Thomas Cor Thomas Moore,
as he was also called upon the ground
where the residence Of Mr., Jas. B. Cox
now stands, at the corner of Main
|and Third streets.
The first stock of merchandise was
brought to Columbus in 1919 by Robt. |.
ID. Haden, from Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The first hotel was opened in 1919
by Richard Barry on the site now oc-
cupied by the Gilmer Hotel or the
First State Bank (authorities differ ON
his point.)
1t was upon the suggestion of Silas
|McBee that the village received the
name of columbus"
According to the records OF the u
s. Postoffice Department the Column
bus postoffice was established March
J. 1920, and Thomas Sampson was
lppointed postmaster. Ut is claim
Rd by some authorities that Gideon
,incecum was the first postmaster)
Gideon Lincecum, who came to the
village in 1919, was physician, botan-
st. entomologist, and historian, besid-
$ being connected with all local act
vities. He left Mississippi in lS4S
or Texas, where he died in 1873.
In 1921 Monroe county, Of which
columbus was then part, was or
sanized, the first sheriff being Bartlett
Sims, elected in 1922.
On February 10, 1921, by act of the
legislature, Franklin Academy was
stablished-the first free public
chool in Mississippi, antedating all
thers by twenty-four years.
VIM. L. Moore was the first mayor
f Columbus.
The first steamboat - the Cotton
blants-came to Columbus in 1922,
nder command Of Capt. Chandler
In 1921 Columbus had population
+ about 100. /,
In 1881 Columbus had a population
f 500.
In ls4o Columbus had a population
{ $500. /
Robinson Road, which runs in
outhwesterly direction from Colum-
us. was established by the Legisla-
ure Of 1921, from Jackson to COlum-
us. through the Choctaw Nation for
he transportation Of mails. This
oad is mentioned in the text Of the
bancing Rabbit Treaty in 1880 and in
he bin extending the Lowndes County
inc in 1881.
In January, 1880, LoVndes County
rss organized cut Of the s0uthern
,ortion Of Monroe County and named
fter the South Carolina statesman,
william Lowndes.
The first courthouse was built IA
$50. By a county tax and = subscrip-