Columbus, MS: African American Highlights

Columbus, MS is proud of its diversity and the contributions African-American citizens have made throughout its rich history. These citizens played significant roles in shaping Columbus into the town it is today. We are dedicated to building awareness of this heritage, and we offer a historic tour that showcases the events, people, and achievements that are important to Columbus. Join Columbus and Lowndes County in paying tribute to the spirit of African-Americans with our historic and informative African-American Heritage Tour available year round.

Catfish Alley
4th Street South

Located between Main Street and College Street, Catfish Alley was a central meeting and business district for the Columbus African-American Community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The name came from the aroma of catfish cooking in the alley. One could smell it across Main Street. The Alley held numerous businesses on both sides of the street. For over 50 years, Jones' Restaurant has represented a typical Catfish Alley business of the early years.

One of the oldest churches in Columbus, Concord was an African-American church established in Lowndes County in 1867. Prior to the construction of a wooden structure, the congregation met in what was called a "brush harbor," a collection of limbs and bushes gathered under a large tree in an open grove. The first wooden structure was constructed in 1908. Contact 662.328.3356.

The first store at this location was called "The Tan Yard" (1791-1819), and was owned and operated by William Cooper. It was the main area in Columbus for European and Native American trade. Cooper's last recorded transaction was the trading of horses with the Chickasaw Tribe in 1819. The Chickasaws called Cooper "the Big Black Tanner."

Built in 1843 by Isaac and Thomas Williams, “free men of color" and residents of Lowndes County, the original home was a four-room, two-story house which forms the core of the present structure.

Horace King (1807-1885), a slave freed by his master in 1846, became one of the most respected bridge builders in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. He designed and constructed a bridge across the Tombigbee River in Columbus, Mississippi. Completed in 1844, the bridge was located at the west end of what was then known as Bridge Street which formed the abutment for the river. The bridge was called "Bridge Street Bridge."

In 1877, W.I. Mitchell became the first black principal of Union Academy, the first African-American school. Prior to becoming principal, he was also a teacher. From 1907 to 1913, he served as president of The Penny-Savings Bank, the first African-American bank in Columbus, Mississippi.

The Missionary Union Baptist Church, organized in 1833, is the oldest African-American church in Northeast Mississippi. The church was organized during the days of slavery, and members held their services Sunday and Wednesday afternoons in the basement of a local Baptist Church. The structure was built in 1871. Tours are available during the annual spring pilgrimage or by contacting Rev. Ton Montgomery at 662.327.4677.

Queen City Hotel was the center of the African-American business district in the mid-twentieth century. It was also the focus of lodging and entertainment for the African-American community. It was constructed, owned and operated in 1909 by Robert Walker, who was once a slave. The hotel played host to such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Little Richard, and James Brown, as well as many professional baseball players.

The Penny-Savings Bank, founded in the early 1900s, was Columbus' first African-American bank. W.I. Mitchell served as the president of the bank from 1907 to 1913. In addition to the Penny-Savings Bank, there are several other significant historical facts about this location:

According to an 1873 Business Directory of downtown, the site was the location of Robert Gleed's grocery store. Gleed was the originator of the "Eight of May" Emancipation Celebration in Columbus, the first African-American City Councilman, and the first African-American state senator from Lowndes County. At this site, on the eve of the 1875 state/county elections, local white Democrats shot and killed four African-Americans and wounded three others in an attempt to terrorize and intimidate the African-American majority, hoping they would not show up to vote at the next day's election.

Also, according to the 1873 Business Directory, Jack Rabb operated a grocery store and saloon next door to Gleed on this site.

From the late 19th century through today, this has been the meeting spot of several African-American Masonic and fraternal lodges. In 1914, there were eight African-American "secret societies" listed in the Polk City Directory and each of them met at 129 1/2 Market Street, presumably upstairs. Included in this number were four lodges of the Grand United Order Odd Fellows [Lodge nos. 2667 (met 1st & 3rd Mon.), 3850 (1st & 3rd Thurs.), 4162 (2nd & 4th Tues.), and 6098 (1st & 3rd Tues.) each met twice monthly], one lodge of the Knights of Pythias [no. 61, which met the 4th Thurs. of each month], and three Masonic lodges [Joppa lodge no. 15 (2nd Wed.), Joshua lodge no. 41 (2nd Fri.), and Evening Star lodge no. 10 (1st Fri.)]. The cornerstone of the current building indicates this historic aspect.

At one time this location also housed the New Light Printing Office. The New Light is believed to have been the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in Columbus (by Richard Denthrift Littlejohn).

Around the late 19th or early 20th century, this was also the location of Dr. Theodoric James' first downtown office. Educated at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Dr. James is believed to have been the first African-American doctor in Columbus.

Sandfield Cemetery is the late nineteenth century burial site of several African-American leaders and businessmen which include the following: Robert Gleed, Mississippi State Senator (1870-1876); Richard D. Littlejohn, publisher and businessman; W. I. Mitchell, Educator, first black principal of Union Academy School, and president of the "Penny-Savings Bank"; Jack Rabb, Businessman, who also bought his own freedom; Simon Mitchell, Justice of the Peace during the Reconstruction Era.

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church originated under a "brush harbor" by a few determined and devoted Christian slaves. In 1821, the land for the church was chartered. It has been determined, however, that the original church was demolished and re-erected at its present location in 1886. It was later remodeled in 1942. Contact 662.327.9575.

Union Academy was established in 1877. As indicated by the state historic marker on 9th Avenue South, the original Union Academy was located at the site of a former Confederate Arsenal just south of the railroad tracks. Documents indicate that in late 1865 the Freedmen's Bureau opened a school for freed slaves at what was known as the Wayside Hospital building. The warehouse-type structure on the south side had been used as a hospital during the Civil War. The Freedman's Bureau school, which precedes the establishment of Union Academy, was probably at the south side site as well. Contact 662.328.6188.

Robert Walker, born before the Civil War, was a slave who was a house servant for the Walker family. Here, he was trained as a butler and caterer. In 1908, he opened the Queen City Hotel, the first African-American owned and operated hotel in Columbus.

Dr. James (believed to have been Columbus' first African-American doctor) built this home between 1906 and 1912. It is a nice example of the Queen Anne Free Classic style in domestic architecture and is still owned by his descendants.