Historic Columbus

10/16/2026

We recently debuted our new 60th Anniversary video at the Preservation Awards and we wanted to share it with you! This five-minute film celebrates our current projects and why preservation is important. We are extremely grateful to the team at InColr for all of their time and creative vision to put this together. We hope you will enjoy it!

You can click here, https://buff.ly/H2MUqHP or visit our YouTube Channel

For 60 years, Historic Columbus has worked to make sure what was bu...

10/15/2026

Today's Spotlight celebrates ten of the awards presented on Tuesday, October 6th at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. It was a wonderful evening to honor over 30 individuals and projects that have made our community a better place.

This week, we are highlighting awards for volunteer recognition, community stewardship, as well as the preservation awards for projects located within the Columbus Historic District, and High Uptown. There will be more to come next week!

For the full Spotlight with photos from the evening thanks to Morgan Duke Photography, click here: https://buff.ly/EFNyVuE

PHOTOS: Living Mosaic Collective (Jordan Mill site), Midtown, Inc. (Sarling Park and the Midtown Children’s Bicycle Playground at Dinglewood Park), The Columbus Museum (three history exhibits), 245 6th Street (Bussey), 620 First Avenue (Zuma Properties), 22 6th Street (Foster and Sudmeier), 712 Broadway (Riikonen), 524 Broadway (Rizzo), 1619 3rd Avenue (Alexander), and A Night at the Ranch (Garrard, Dixon, McCormick, Bowden, Gallops, Harman, Hatcher, and Trotter).

10/13/2026

On October 6th, Historic Columbus had the privilege of recognizing the recipients of the 60th Annual Preservation Awards. Through their vision, commitment, and significant private investment, they have preserved important places, strengthened our neighborhoods, and helped make Columbus a better community. Their accomplishments remind us that preservation is not simply about protecting the past, it is also an investment in our city’s future. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will share these incredible people and projects with you!

Historic Columbus proudly presented the 2026 Sarah Turner Butler Heritage Award to Betsy Ramsay. The organization's highest honor recognized Betsy's lifelong service to Columbus, her hands-on commitment to preservation, and the steady leadership she has provided Historic Columbus during an especially important chapter in its history.

For the full Spotlight, click here: https://buff.ly/inGqo0o

Photos: Betsy served as Historic Columbus' Chairman of the Board. Buildings shown are the Garrett-Joy Building (901 Broadway), Sol Loeb Building (900 Front Avenue), and 2901 First Avenue. They are all projects Betsy has been instrumental in making happen.

10/09/2026

Our friends at Zion Church Restoration, Inc. are hosting a fantastic event on Saturday, October 24th, and you don't want to miss it! 🎶

Talbotton BluesFEST will focus on Blues history and music in the lower Chattahoochee Valley area. So, please mark your calendars for an intimate afternoon of music in one of America’s most significant wooden Gothic Revival structures. The Smithsonian has also selected BluesFEST as one of the featured small town events to celebrate America's 250th anniversary.

Zion Church was the 2019 recipient of Historic Columbus' $100,000 Public Participation Grant. The non-profit, Zion Church Restoration, Inc., applied for the grant because the outside of the 1848 building was in critical condition. Our grant served as a spark for the group to continue raising the needed funds - a total of $300,000. Several Foundations and individuals gifted Zion with the additional $200,000. Restoration was completed in early 2021. That year, Zion Church Restoration, Inc. also received the Chairman’s Award for “excellence in restoration” by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Proceeds from Talbotton BluesFEST will benefit the continued preservation of the building.

09/30/2026

It was all hands on deck this morning to install the new history exhibit at RiverCenter! So grateful to Walker, Justin, Debbie, and Palmer for their help to make this happen. It is located on the Mezzanine Level in the Lobby. The next time you are visiting RiverCenter for a show, please take a look!

Our latest exhibit features 23 panels from the larger Clifford and Bobsie Swift History Trail, located at the Chattahoochee Promenade (Front Avenue and 7th Street). The panels include the story of our town – the river, our Native American history, industrial legacy, architectural icons, civil rights history, our cultural and educational connections, historic preservation, Uptown’s revitalization, and the many people and events that shaped it. Numerous resources were used to shape it, including Billy Winn’s Old Beloved Path and John Lupold’s Columbus, Georgia 1828–1978. These works served as the guiding lights to bring this trail to life, and we are forever grateful to both great historians.

One of the wonderful things about the trail is that it can and will continue to grow both physically with more panels and online through additional information on Historic Columbus’ website.

We hope you will visit the Chattahoochee Promenade and learn more about Columbus!

Thank you to Bobsie and Clifford Swift for making the history trail possible, to the Columbus Cultural Arts Alliance for their support of this exhibit, and to RiverCenter for their continued partnership.

09/29/2026

Join Historic Columbus at the upcoming 60th Annual Preservation Awards! They will be held on Tuesday, October 6th at 5:30PM at RiverCenter with a reception to follow. We will honor many individuals and great preservation projects, along with presenting the organization's highest honor - the Sarah Turner Butler Heritage Award.

The places we save, the stories we share, and the neighborhoods in which we invest all become part of the Columbus we leave for the future. But none of that happens without people. So, please mark you calendars and help us celebrate these incredible efforts!!

09/24/2026

We are continuing to highlight articles from the Muscogiana Journal. Today, we are focusing one another gentleman who served as one of the five original city commissioners - Col. Philip Henry Alston. Like James Hallam, he also has some mystery surrounding him following his service in the planning of the city of Columbus in 1828. Below is an excerpt from the article written by local and statewide historian Ken Thomas.

"The Alstons' stay in Columbus was brief. The reason for their departure in 1831 is unknown but could have resulted from a number of reasons: Colonel Alston's health (he died only a few months after they left and had been quite ill earlier), financial reasons, to join other family members (once they left, she remained in the new region for the rest of her life), or just to go to yet another frontier or developing area. It should be noted that at the time they left Columbus, they each had a brother living there. It seems his health is the most likely reason for their leaving.

Shortly after they left Columbus her brother, Sowell, was killed in January 1832 in a duel. Sowell had been a legislator and a very influential man in the growing city of Columbus. Whatever sphere of influence he had, the Alstons no doubt basked in it, as well as from being one of the founding fathers and a commissioner."

For the full History Spotlight, click here: https://buff.ly/BjQrdMQ

SOURCE: COLUMBUS, GEORGIA'S ORIGINAL COMMISSIONERS: Part Two - PHILIP HENRY ALSTON By Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr., Muscogiana Journal, Vol. 1, Fall 1989.

IMAGES: 1828 Map of Columbus (as drawn in 1840); George M. Troup (Governor of Georgia, 1823 - 1827); John Forsyth (Governor of Georgia 1827 - 1829); Duel of Sowell Woolfolk and J.T. Camp; and John Woolfolk House (1615 12th Street).

09/15/2026

Please join us Thursday to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Columbus, Georgia in Vintage Postcards with author Ken Thomas! The free event will be held on Thursday, September 17th at Noon at The Columbus Museum (1251 Wynnton Road). Lunch will be available for purchase.

We look forward to celebrating this great book and seeing everyone Thursday!