Business View Magazine - September 2016 109
South’s cotton gins and riverboats, when it was called
upon to provide cannons and steam engines for the
Confederate Army at the start of the Civil War.
Burned by the Union army at war’s end, the Iron Works’
stockholders rebuilt and expanded the facility, eventu-
ally turning it into the city’s largest and most sophis-
ticated foundry. By 1880, Columbus led the South in
textile production, and many of the spindles and looms
in its mills were driven by shafts and pulleys provided
by the Columbus Iron Works. On April 11, 1902, the
Works burned down again. Within the two block com-
plex, only the 1890s foundry survived. Undaunted by
this second destruction, the owners built the massive,
new facility which remained unchanged for sixty-five
years.
In 1925, the W.C. Bradley Company acquired control
of the Columbus Iron Works and attempted to concen-
trate on fewer, more marketable items such as stoves
and heaters in the 1920s, tractor-drawn implements
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Columbus Georgia Convention &
Trade Center
WHAT:
The City of Columbus’ main, municipal
event center
WHERE:
Columbus, Georgia
WEBSITE
:
