Columbus, city, seat of Lowndes County, eastern Mississippi, on the Tombigbee River, near the Alabama line; settled 1817, incorporated as a city 1884. Among the city's manufactures are motors, furniture, bathroom accessories, clothing, paper, and construction materials. Mississippi University for Women (1884) is here. Nearby are Columbus Air Force Base and Lake Lowndes State Park. Columbus was briefly the state capital after Jackson fell to Union troops in 1863; it has many antebellum homes. The city is named for Christopher Columbus. Population 27,383 (1980); 23,799 (1990); 25,944 (2000).
