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The Commemorative Quarter for Mississippi





Welcome to Columbus ...

The city of Columbus is located in Lowndes County<1> and is the County Seat for Lowndes County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Columbus, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1820.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Columbus has a population of 23,602 people<2> (see below for details).

Columbus is 190 feet [58 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Columbus lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Columbus: 662

The ZIP code for Columbus: 39701<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Columbus had an population of 23,602 people. This is a decrease of 0.16% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 9.03% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Columbus had a population of 23,640 people (which is 39.53% of the total population of Lowndes County). This makes Columbus the county's most populous community.

The population of Columbus represents 0.8% of the total population of Mississippi (which has 2,967,297 people), making it the state's 17th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 23,640 people, the population of Columbus decreased 8.88% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 25,944 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Columbus.

Communities Also Named Columbus ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 35 communities that are also named Columbus - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois (2), Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky (2), Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico (2), New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario (3), Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Columbus.

Websites for Columbus ...

Official Website: www.columbusms.org/

Communities near Columbus ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Columbus.

  • West Point
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Caledonia
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Crawford
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crawford have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
    • Crawford is located in Lowndes County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 655 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crawford <5>
  • Artesia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Ethelsville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ethelsville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethelsville
    • Ethelsville is located in Pickens County (AL)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
  • New Hope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
    • New Hope is located in Lowndes County
  • Waverly
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waverly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
    • Waverly is located in Clay County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Waverly
    • From Columbus to Waverly
  • Bent Oak
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Stafford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Kolola Springs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Columbus. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Columbus.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Columbus. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Columbus.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbus. Our list includes 37 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Columbus.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Columbus ...

Looking for more information about Columbus? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Columbus, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Columbus.

Adding Columbus to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Columbus in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Columbus was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Columbus post office opened in 1820.

We also found Columbus in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Columbus.

The official website for Columbus: www.columbusms.org/

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Mississippi's counties, including Lowndes, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Columbus.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Columbus - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Columbus). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Columbus or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025