The substance of style.

In education and elsewhere, leading by example has always been a defining character trait in Columbus, a trait you’ll see richly documented in the city’s African American heritage tour.  African American culture has been a powerful force for this city since before the Civil War, and on the tour you’ll see historic churches and homes as well as sites where commerce and culture intersected and flourished, sites like Catfish Alley where the smell of fried catfish mingled with the sounds of business deal-making, and the building site of the Queen City Hotel where notables like Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, B. B. King, Duke Ellington, and James Brown all came to play.

 In Friendship Cemetery in 1866, another display of Columbus character changed the nation.  In decorating the graves of both Union and Confederate dead, and in showing such care, devotion and dignity to all—with the conflict only just ended—the ladies of Columbus set a stirring example that inspired a nation.  Today the ritual those ladies began has become our national Memorial Day, and a stroll through Friendship Cemetery is still a moving occasion.  The cemetery’s most famous monument, a winsome girl with her head cradled against her arm, is an evocative favorite of photographers, professionals and amateurs alike.  Bring your camera, you’ll see—she always takes a perfect picture.

You’ll probably want to bring your camera downtown, too, to take snaps as you take a break in this lovely historic district.  Colorful storefronts, quaint cafes, a wealth of antiquing make this part of Columbus an exploration all its own.  Want to make a splash?  Head for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, where miles of blue water stretch all the way to the far northeast corner of the Hills.

So take a float trip north—or take the highway.  Either way, it’s time to explore dozens more beautiful homes in a town with so much history it took five different districts to contain it all.