Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Columbus (2.)

COLUMBUS, a city of the United States, capital of Muscogee county, in Georgia, is situated on the east bank of the Chattahochee, opposite the town of Girard, 84 miles south-west of Macon. The river, which here separates the States of Georgia and Alabama, is navigable from Macon to the Gulf of Mexico during the greater part of the year, and affords ready communication with the neighbouring cotton-growing districts. A change in the level of the river at this place furnishes a strong head of water, which has been turned to practical use by the construction of a dam and other hydraulic contrivances. The town, which occupies a pretty extensive area, is regularly laid out, and its streets are of a good breadth. It contains a court-house, a temperance hall, and several churches. Its chief industry is connected with the cotton trade, but there are also some flour-mills and other works. The town dates from 1828, when it was laid out on the Coweta Reserve. Population in 1850, 5042, and in 1870, 7401, of whom 3204 were coloured.