Columbus Chronicles

Founded in 1821, Columbus faced the difficulties of settling a new frontier town, then the upheaval of the Civil War. Later decades brought periods of wealth alongside setbacks, and across all of it the community grew into a place its people now call home and take pride in.

Rufus Ward has long looked after the history of the region, and his column, Ask Rufus, has found a wide readership. This new collection gathers a selection of his strongest historical pieces. Read together, they trace the full sweep of the city's past and bring out the character of the surrounding region.

The stories answer questions such as which Native American tribes once lived in east Mississippi, which houses in Columbus are the oldest still standing, and which local family shared the mint julep recipe that Eudora Welty favored.