Group Tour Escort Manual - Mississippi

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l The Mississippi University for Women, the first public university for women in America, is located in Columbus.
l Columbus is home of Columbus Air Force Base, where 1/3 of our nations pilots are trained.
l Columbus is the headquarters for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, a large inland waterway connecting Columbus to
river ports in Mid-America as well as deep-water ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
l The toilet seat patented for the space shuttle was designed and produced in Columbus.
l Hernando de Soto crossed the Tombigbee River near Columbus as early as 1540.
l The settlement was originally called “Possum Town” because the original inhabitants, the Chickasaw Indians, believed
the manager of the trading post, Spirus Roach, had possum-like features.
For more information about Columbus, visit www.columbus-ms.org
Clock Tower at the Mississippi University for Women