Columbia, Alabama - Historic Sites & Points of Interest

Purcell-Killingsworth House in Columbia

A charming and historic community nestled along the Chattahoochee River in the Wiregrass region of Southeast Alabama, Columbia is an often overlooked heritage destination that is well worth a visit.

Founded in 1820 as settlement spread across lands taken from the Creek Nation by the Treaty of Fort Jackson, Columbia was an important river crossing and port community even from its earliest days. The arrival of steamboat traffic on the Chattahoochee River just a few years later, however, spurred a boom that made the town one of the most prosperous on the river between Eufaula, Alabama and Apalachicola, Florida.

Old Columbia Jail

The cotton and other commerce for a significant area of the Wiregrass region (named for a tough, wire-like grass that grows in the pine woods) passed through Columbia, where it was loaded aboard paddlewheel riverboats for transport up to Columbus or down to Apalachicola on the Gulf. This spurred a strong commercial district with stores, warehouses and other businesses. The town for a time was even the county seat, although that status was lost as the vast expanse of the original Henry County was carved up into numerous other counties as the population of the region grew.

Columbia remained a vital river port until the railroad was finally extended into South Alabama during the last decades of the 19th century. The town on the river was bypassed in favor of a new community - Dothan - and Columbia's commercial interests slowly faded.

Summer House at Columbia Cemetery

The town survived, however, and today is the center of a unique, picturesque and historic area with many points of interest. The historic Old Columbia Jail, for example, dates from the Civil War and is one of the last surviving original wooden jails in the Deep South. The unique summer house that serves as an entrance way to Columbia Cemetery is more than 100 years old.

There are charming historic homes and churches, including the architecturally unique Purcell-Killingsworth House. Just four miles or so away across the river in Early County, Georgia, stands the beautiful Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge. The southernmost 19th century covered bridge in the nation, it spans a charming little waterfall.

To learn more about Columbia and the surrounding area, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/columbia.

Coldwater Covered Bridge - Oxford, Alabama

The oldest covered bridge in Alabama stands less than five minutes off Interstate 20 between Birmingham and Atlanta.

Coldwater Covered Bridge is part of one of the most beautiful city parks in the world, Oxford Lake Park in Oxford, Alabama. Built no later than 1850, and possibly even earlier, the 63' long bridge was built by a former slave to span Coldwater Creek, a rushing mountain stream that flows just south of Oxford and Anniston.

Damaged by fire in 1920, the bridge was repaired and continued to carry traffic over Coldwater Creek until it was eventually replaced by a modern concrete bridge. Allowed to fall into disrepair, it was saved from deterioration in 1990 and relocated about 8 miles to Oxford Lake Park. Beautifully restored, it can now be visited any day for free and even carries a popular walking path across the creek flowing out from the lake.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, Coldwater Covered Bridge is a landmark of Southern history. Read more and see additional photos by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/coldwater.

Swann Covered Bridge - Blount County, Alabama

The longest surviving covered bridge in Alabama presents a spectacular scene as it stretches over the gorge of the Locust Fork of the Warrior River.

Built in 1933 by the uncle and nephew team of Zelmer and Forrest Tidwell, the Swann Covered Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of three surviving covered bridges in Blount County, Alabama.

These beautiful old bridges stand as silent reminders of the days before concrete and steel were commonly used in bridge construction. Because the wood flooring of bridges often deteriorated rapidly due to exposure to the elements such as rain, snow and ice, our ancestors came up with the idea of building covers over bridges to protect the flooring. For many years covered bridges were common on the roads and byways of America, but today most have long since disappeared.

In Alabama, there were once more than 30 covered bridges, but only 11 survive. Sadly, several have been lost in recent years due to vandalism and arson.

Fortunately, the beautiful Swann bridge is among those that survive. More than 300 feet long, it is a three span bridge with the main spain stretching for more than 75 feet over the rushing water of the Locust Fork.

To learn more about this beautiful old bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/swann.

Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge - Woodbury, Georgia

About 12 miles north of historic Warm Springs, the oldest covered bridge in Georgia still carries traffic over Red Oak Creek.

The Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge was built in the 1840s by famed bridge builder Horace King. Born a slave of African American and Catawba Indian descent, King was either freed or purchased his freedom from John Godwin. A contractor who had relocated to Girard, Alabama, (today's Phenix City) across the river from Columbus, Georgia, Godwin recognized King's abilities as an engineer early in his life and mentored him in the development of his remarkable skills. After King secured his freedom, the Alabama State Legislature passed a special act guaranteeing him of full rights so that he could travel freely, own property and otherwise pursue his career as an engineer and bridge builder.

Including its planked approaches, the Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge is the longest wooden bridge in Georgia. Built in the Town Lattice Truce style, its main span is also the longest unsupported span in the state.

A beautiful survivor of the antebellum past when such bridges were common in the South, the Red Oak Creek bridge is in remarkably good condition despite its exposure to 170 years of weather, floods and aging.

To learn more about this beautiful old covered bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/redoak.

Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge - Early County, Georgia

The Southernmost original covered bridge in the United States spans a small creek not far from the Chattahoochee River in Early County, Georgia.

The only one of Georgia's 17 original covered bridges that is located south of Macon and Columbus, the Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge has been a Southern landmark since 1891.

Built at the McDonald Ford of Coheelee Creek in 1891 for a total cost of $491, the Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge was restored as a community effort in 1984. Although it suffers some from graffiti vandalism, the structure itself remains in very good condition.

The setting of the bridge is especially unique because not only is Coheelee the southernmost covered bridge in the country, but also because the creek that passes beneath it flows over a small waterfall within sight of the bridge. Waterfalls are extremely rare in South Georgia.

To learn more about Coheelee Creek and the other covered bridges of Georgia, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/coheelee1.

Spring Travel Part Twelve: Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge

Even though it suffers from vandalism and the adjacent park from neglect, Southwest Georgia's historic Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge is still one of my favorite spring travel destinations.

Surviving covered bridges are rare and this one is unique because it is the southernmost original "kissing bridge" in the United States.

Built in 1891 at a total cost of $490.41, the old bridge crosses a small waterfall on Coheelee Creek in Early County, Georgia. Located off Highway 62 West about nine miles southwest of the county seat of Blakely, the bridge is less than 30 minutes east of the city of Dothan, Alabama.

Of the 17 original covered bridges still surviving in Georgia, it is the only one located south of Macon.

To read more about the Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/coheelee1.