The old Muscogee County Jail stands in contrast to the newer facility, built in 2002.
The old Muscogee County Jail, built in by the Public Works Administration in 1939 to alleviate overcrowding and poor conditions at the Columbus Stockade (circa 1870) was in use until 2002. It was replaced by the modern facility in the background and there are already calls to replace the new jail.
The entrance to the old jail is typical of the Art Deco architecture of the New Deal.
There are no plans to restore the facility and it will likely be demolished in the future.
The Prince Hall Masons were first organized in Columbus as the Bradwell Lodge No. 4, in 1871. Bradwell later became Lewis Hayden Lodge No. 6, which still meets today. Since 1871, seven lodges have been established in Columbus, and some, including Mt. Pisgah Lodge No. 53, as well as several Eastern Star chapters, meet in the Prince Hall Masonic Temple, which was built in 1953, and is a center of Black civic and social life in Columbus.
Of historical importance, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to a gathering of over 1000 people here on 1 July 1958, imploring the audience to meet “physical force with soul force“, in response to increasing racial violence. He was in Columbus following the murder by white store owner Luico Flowers of Dr. Thomas Brewer (1894-1956). Dr. Flowers, a local physician and Civil Rights leader, was an advocate of King v. Chapman, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the white primary system in Georgia. This decision led to heightened KKK activity in the area, including a threat to bomb the Prince Hall Masonic Temple during Dr. King’s visit. Armed Prince Hall Masons kept vigil on the roof. Unable to harm Dr. King, the KKK bombed the home of Essie Mae Ellison, who had recently moved into a white neighborhood.
Friendship Baptist Church was established circa 1892 when “...a band of Christian believers, only seventeen in number organized in an old house on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Sixth Street...The ministers who took part in this organization were Rev. Henry Wright, Rev. Allen Miles, Rev. Henry Threatt, and Rev. Alberdeen McCall. The following brethren were the first deacons: Alexander Kendrix, Sam Colbert, and Samuel Cooper. Some of the first members were Sisters Anna Kendrix, Emeline Foster, and others whose names are not recorded...” [From the church website.] The historic marker in front of the church notes that Rev. J. S. Kelsey was the first minister, from 1897-1901, and that the sanctuary was begun during his pastorate.
Rev. Riley King Paschal, from History of the American Negro and his institutions, Georgia edition, edited by A.B. Caldwell, 1920. Public domain.
A remodeling and expansion which gave the church its present appearance was begun in 1919 and completed in 1922, during the 43-year pastorate of Rev. Riley King Paschal (1868-1944). His initials, RKP, are embedded in brick in the front gable. During Rev. Paschal’s tenure, Gertrude Pridgett “Ma” Rainey, who had retired from touring and returned home to Columbus, was an active member of Friendship Baptist Church.
The oldest features of Saint James are the ornate hand-carved front doors, which came from the Asbury M. E. Church. They were made by enslaved men at the Dudley Sash and Door Company.
Saint James is one of the most beautiful historic churches in Columbus. The following history (abridged), is from the church website: Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church of Columbus, Georgia was organized in November 1863. [It is the second oldest AME church in Georgia.] In 1864, the Reverend William Gaines, an ordained Deacon and brother of Bishop J. Gaines of Charleston, SC, became the first pastor of Saint James. The property on which Saint James AME Church stands was given to the African Methodist Episcopal Church by an act of the Georgia Legislature in 1873. The present edifice, a cathedral in structure and design, was erected during the pastorate of the Reverend Wesley J. Gaines at a cost of $20,000.00. It was completed in 1876. The bell tower was built while the Reverend Larry Thomas was pastor (1886-1887). The most interesting features of the building are the center spire and twin turrets on each side of the tower built in 1886. The twin turrets are stone trimmed and have brick details on the exterior. The interior spiral stairs lead from the narthex to the balcony. A semicircular apse containing an altar and choir loft was added at a later date.
Construction began on the Liberty Theatre in 1924 and was completed in 1925. When it was built 100 years ago, it was the first Black theatre in Columbus, and significantly, the only such venue within the Martin Theatres chain. Though not substantiated, it is believed that local architect T. Firth Lockwood, Jr., was responsible for the design.
Beginning as a silent movie house and transitioning to talkies, the Liberty was also a vibrant live entertainment space. Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and the big bands of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Fletcher Henderson all performed here.
The Liberty closed in 1974, as desegregated theatres in other areas of Columbus took business away from the location. After years of abandonment, restoration and removal of a 1955 makeover, brought the Liberty back to life. It reopened as a live performance space and cultural arts center in 1996. As the fencing would indicate, it is now going through another renovation and is presently closed.
This simple commercial storefront, located just down 5th Avenue from Tole’s Undertaking in the Liberty District, was the office of Farley Real Estate, the first Black-owned real estate company in Columbus. Edwin Edward Farley (c. 1902 – 1956) was the visionary owner of the business. Farley and his wife Ella were realtors and developers and were very involved in their community. They built the first Black subdivision in Columbus, known as Carver Heights, beginning in 1946. E. E. was a Morehouse College graduate and led the Columbus chapter of the NAACP and served as executive secretary of the Army and Navy YMCA at Fort Benning. His association with area Civil Rights leaders, including Dr. Thomas H. Brewer, Primus King, and A. J. McClung, was instrumental in bringing the annual Tuskegee-Morehouse football game to Columbus.
When Farley died in 1956, Ella continued the real estate business, selling it to Booker Edmonds in 1971. The name was changed to Edmonds-Farley and was still in business as of 2021. Today, the building is home to Chirp Glass Studio.
This home was built for William Henry Spencer (1857-1925) by the Dudley Lumber Company in 1912. At a time when most African-Americans didn’t own their own homes, this was on par with any of the new construction in Columbus at the time.
According to Muscogee County Schools, William Henry Spencer “was a student in the Columbus public school system, the old Asbury Chapel, during the age of segregation. Dr. Spencer was an exemplary student who excelled in school and attained high honors. After obtaining his teaching certificate, he embarked on a fifty-year career in education.”
“As an educator, Dr. William Henry Spencer was the principal of the former Fifth Avenue School and the supervisor of the Negro Educational Department. He was dedicated to improving the curriculum of segregated schools and worked to establish courses in the fine arts and vocational arena.”
“Since African-American students in Columbus, Georgia had to travel as far as Atlanta to move beyond the ninth grade, Dr. Spencer began working towards opening an accredited high school for African-Americans in Columbus. Dr. Spencer’s determination result in the fruition of the aforementioned school. Sadly, he passed away on May 30, 1925, five years before the school was built. The school was originally built on Tenth Avenue, and it was named William Henry Spencer High School in his honor.”
This Greek Revival cottage is thought to have been built for John Spencer Roberts, the founder of Georgia Webbing & Tape, an early Columbus industrial concern, though further information on Mr. Roberts or his company has not been easy to locate. By 1896, it was home to Joseph Hecht (1844-1917) and Adele Kober Hecht (1859-1920). The Hechts were Austrian Jews who came to Columbus in the 1860s and later established Hecht’s Candy Company, a successful wholesaler.
It’s been home to Charles E. Huff’s International Funeral Home for many years.
This Folk Victorian home is located directly beside Charles E. Huff’s International Funeral Home, so I can only presume it was at sometime associated with that business, perhaps as the home of the owner or as coffin storage. If anyone knows, please share.
An architectural survey notes that this building was “constructed by Alex Tole as Tole’s Undertaking. The business was founded in 1892 and Alex Tole was one of the few who could afford to buy a stained glass picture of himself in his church, the First African Baptist Church. It is uncertain if he ever saw the finished window prior to his death in 1915. Mr. Henry Tole (Alex Tole’s brother) took over the business after his brother’s death. The “837 Club” would meet on the second floor of the building and consisted of men who would get together and play cards, etc. They rented the space from the Funeral Home.”
