17. Establishing Columbus

17. Establishing Columbus

There were settlements on both banks of the Chattahoochee prior to the founding of Columbus. The community of Wewoka was home to three hundred people who lived in log cabins and tents along the eastern banks of the river. Residents were involved in trading with Creek deer hunters and Wewoka hosted a major ferry and Inn operated by two Creek chiefs. In 1828 the village was abandoned when Columbus was formally established as a trading town just to the north. The city sits at the highest navigable point on the Chattahoochee River, which, on joining the Flint River to become the Apalachicola River, flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mahan, J. B. Columbus: Georgia's Fall Line "Trading Town." Northridge, California: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1986.

Picure: Plan of the City of Columbus and Plan of the City of Girard Columbus, GA original completed circa 1840s, traced February 8th, 1927, Office of the City Engineer, City of Columbus, GA. (Courtesy Columbus State University Archives).