Greater Saint Mark was organized in as Saint Mark AME Church in 1886 and the present sanctuary was built in 1961, during the pastorate of Rev. W. L. Brown. An old cornerstone saved by the congregation indicates an earlier church was built in 1889, during the pastorate of Rev. M. R. Wilson.
The Georgian Cottage form is widespread in Columbus, and this hip-roof example has a Folk Victorian appearance.
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This is a nice example of a Georgian Cottage home, popular throughout the Columbus Historic District in varying interpretations. This version has Greek Revival and Classical influences.
Columbus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
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.
National Register of Historic Places
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.
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.
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.
National Register of Historic Places
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.”
Visit Historic Columbus for photos and a great essay about the life and influence of Spencer.
National Register of Historic Places
First African Baptist Church is the oldest Black congregation in Columbus. In 1840, after 11 years of worshiping with White congregants of Ephesus Baptist Church, enslaved members, along with free people of color, formed the African Baptist Church.
They first met in the former home of Ephesus Baptist, built in 1830 and vacated for a larger sanctuary. White ministers would serve the African Baptist Church until the early 1860s. In 1862, a gift to the African Baptist Church from Ephesus allowed construction of a new chapel. The first Black minister was Rev. Harry Watson.
A fire claimed the new church in the 1870s and a brick structure replaced it in 1881. The new church was located at 6th Avenue and 11th Street and the name was changed to Sixth Avenue Baptist Church. In the 1880s and 1890s, discord among members led to the formation of Metropolitan Baptist Church and Friendship Baptist Church.
The present church was built in 1915, during the pastorate of Rev. J. H. Carter. It grew from the membership of earlier and disparate congregations and was christened First African Baptist Church. In one form or another, it has served the Black community of Columbus for the better part of two centuries. The “Mother of the Blues”, Gertrude Pridgett (later known as Ma Rainey) was baptized at First African Baptist.
National Register of Historic Places
This facade is what remains of the front office of the Bibb Manufacturing Company’s 750,000 square foot Columbus Mill, begun in 1900 and expanded upward toward 1st Avenue until 1920. It was the centerpiece of the company’s Bibb City. A massive fire in 2008 destroyed all of the facility except for this small section. The large clock in the pediment is its most distinguishing feature. At its peak in the 1940s, the Columbus Mill employed over 2,500 people and was the largest cotton mill in the United States. Bibb City was a self-contained municipality, with housing, retail, schools, and other public facilities.
Independent of Columbus until incorporation in 2000, Bibb City remains a distinct neighborhood.
Bibb City Historic District, National Register of Historic Places