Columbus

Capital of Ohio, on the Scioto and Olentangy rivers; seat of Franklin County; population (2000 est) 711,500. There are coalfields and natural gas resources nearby, and local industries include the manufacture of cars, aircraft, space equipment, missiles, and electrical goods; it is also a centre for government, banking, and insurance. Columbus was founded in 1812, became the state capital in 1816, and was incorporated as a city in 1834.

Columbus developed in the 19th century as an important transport centre: it was connected to the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1831, and the railroad arrived in 1850; later on it became known for the manufacture of horse-drawn carriages and wagons. During the American Civil War it was the largest prisoner-of-war camp in the North.

Features include the COSI (Center of Science and Industry); Batelle Memorial Institute (1929) for research in the metallurgy and mineral industries; Ohio State House (1861); Columbus Museum of Art; and Columbus Symphony Orchestra. The Rickenbacker Air Force Base closed in 1979, but later became a commercial airport, industrial park, and Foreign Trade Zone. Columbus is also the seat of several colleges including Capital University (1830), Trinity Lutheran Seminary (1830), Ohio State University (1870), Columbus College of Art and Design (1879), Pontifical College Josephinum (1888), Franklin University (1902), Ohio Dominican College (1911), and DeVry Institute of Technology (1952). Columbus was the birthplace of US humorist James Thurber and Senator Prescot Sheldon Bush, father of US president George Bush and grandfather of US president George W Bush.

Columbus

City and port in west-central Georgia, USA, 175 km/109 mi south of Atlanta, across the Chattahoochee River from Phenix City, Alabama; seat of Muscogee County; population (2000 est) 185,800. Columbus is one of the largest textile centres in the South, and its industries are powered by hydroelectric plants situated on the Chattahoochee River; other industries include processed food, machinery, iron and steel, and peanuts. It is a distribution centre for surrounding farmlands, and lies just north of Fort Benning, the US Army infantry base.

History Founded in 1828, Columbus became an important cotton port; it was incorporated as a city in 1836. During the American Civil War Columbus was a major munitions manufacturer for the Confederate army; the city was captured by Union forces in 1865, in one of the final engagements of the war.

Features The city is the seat of Columbus College (1958). The novelist Carson McCullers was born here. Military history is celebrated by the Civil War Naval Museum, and gunboats are among the city's 132 entries on the national register of historic places.