Trailing History
Following the Black Heritage Trail

What better time than Black History Month to spend an afternoon touring the landmarks that stand as enduring testament to the work, talents and accomplishments of African-Americans living in Columbus. The Black Heritage Trail winds past homes of famous artists and entertainers and prominent community leaders, past churches and schools, linking our present-day landscape with the people and events of yesteryear.

Kinfolks Corner
Front Avenue and Tenth Street
The Carson McCullers book A Member of the Wedding made
famous this popular gathering place. For decades, African-American farmers and industrial day laborers from Alabama and Georgia spent Saturdays socializing on the corner.

St. James A.M.E. Church
1002 Sixth Avenue
Ornate doors, hand-carved by slaves, open to the second oldest church of its denomination in the state. The building was completed in 1876, the bell tower added a decade later, and in the 1940s a pipe organ was installed.

Old City Jail
622 Tenth Street
Two brick buildings housed the police department and jail from 1850-1906. Sometime
later the buildings were connected and became known as the Columbus Stockade, inspiring the nationally popular song “Columbus Stockade Blues,” written in 1927…

Now that we’ve reeled you in, catch the rest of this and many other intriguing local stories and columns in the current issue of Columbus and the Valley Magazine. Click here to find a retail outlet near you, or subscribe online so you’ll never miss a word.

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