Mississippi Civil Rights Project

In the late 19th and early 20th century Catfish Alley was the nexus of black commercial life in Columbus.

The Haven is an antebellum structure built by two brothers, Isaac and Thomas Williams. Both were free men of color, black men who were not slaves.

African-American church established in Lowndes County following the Civil War in 1867. The congregation met beneath a large tree prior to building in 1908.

Missionary Union Baptist is the oldest African-American Baptist church in northeast Mississippi. Organized in 1833. M.U. was and continues to be a dominant force in the black community.

The first free school for African-Americans in Columbus, established in 1877.

Shiloh was organized by Christian slaves. Land for the church was chartered in 1821.

In 1865, the year the Civil War ended, the population of Columbus was 6,000. By 1870 with the emancipation of slaves, that number had ballooned to 9,000.