Columbus

Atlantic Coast Line Depot Museum
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Chadbourn ACL Passenger Depot Museum has been lovingly restored to depict the depot during the railroad's prime era. The depot displays a variety of historical artifacts including model railroads, period furnishings, Aubudon prints, railroad memorabilia, and even fashions from the early 1900s.

Greater Fair Bluff Historical Society Depot Museum
Located in the restored 1897 ACL passenger and freight depot, the Greater Fair Bluff Historical Society Depot Museum collects artifacts and genealogy from the area in order to preserve the history and heritage of Fair Bluff. Although the railroad is exhibited to some extent, the depot museum exhibits feature the town and the residents of Fair Bluff from its founding to present day. The exhibit hall also serves as the research room.

Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum
Built in 1904, the depot at beautiful Lake Waccamaw is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Organized in 1977 by the Lake Waccamaw Woman's Club, the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum showcases the natural history of the area, Native American artifacts, local family history, tools and information regarding the turpentine industry and railroad memorabilia.

Lake Waccamaw State Park
Lake Waccamaw State Park, under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, protects North Carolina's natural diversity, provides and promotes outdoor recreation opportunities, and encourages good stewardship of natural resources through educational programs. The educational mission of Lake Waccamaw State Park is supported by an interactive exhibit hall that focuses on local ecology, while the history and significance of Lake Waccamaw is depicted in informative displays throughout the visitor center.

Southeastern Community College Library
North Carolina/Genealogical Collection
The Southeastern Community College Library's local history collection provides the public with local history and genealogical materials, which include microfilm of local newspapers and county and state records, vertical subject files of regional scope, and books to provide further information on local and state history. The library also maintains the college's archive, which includes clipping scrapbooks, newsletters, minutes and college catalogs, handbooks and manuals.

North Carolina Museum of Forestry
The North Carolina Museum of Forestry, located in downtown Whiteville, operates as a satellite of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It celebrates the natural history and cultural heritage of North Carolina's forests and forestry through interpretive and interactive exhibits, educational programming, and the preservation of natural and man-made materials that demonstrate the ongoing relationships of forests and people.

Columbus County Public Library
North Carolina Room
The North Carolina Room collects and makes available to all researchers local history and genealogical materials. A listing of all materials, and some photographs, are available on its website under the title bar "Local History & Genealogy". This website also includes online a detailed computerized index to local newspapers since 1924, and the county commissioner minutes since 1868. Researchers may request copies from the citations given through the email address listed. Along with the local history and genealogy materials, the library maintains maps, subject and genealogical vertical files, and World War II Veterans oral histories.

Town of Tabor City
1870 Mt. Tabor School House and Tabor City Depot Museum
The Town of Tabor City maintains the 1870 Mt. Tabor Schoolhouse and the Tabor City Depot Museum for the enjoyment and education of its citizens. The 1870 Mt. Tabor Schoolhouse is an original structure interpreting rural education in eastern North Carolina. Although most of the furnishings are reproductions or pieces of the period, there are original photographs, textbooks and histories of the school on display. The Tabor City Depot Museum displays people, events and products important to the town. Portraits of past mayors and artifacts and photographs of local war veterans are on permanent exhibit. Also, a large model of Tabor City is prominently featured in the museum. Interested parties must contact town hall in order to schedule a tour of both sites.

Tabor-Loris Tribune
H. W. Carter Museum
The W. Horace Carter Newspaper Museum, located at the Tabor-Loris Tribune offices, exhibits the life and works of 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service winner W. Horace Carter. The museum, which is open to the public during office hours, most prominently features his editorials against the resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan in eastern North Carolina and the reactions generated during that campaign. Other items include publishing equipment, University of North Carolina memorabilia, and many of Mr. Carter's books on fishing and the outdoors.

Reuben Brown House
The Reuben Brown House is a late Federal-style country cottage built circa 1830 on farmland west of Whiteville. The house has two large main rooms joined by a connecting door as well as two smaller rooms with separate outdoor entrances. The two larger rooms have fireplaces and front doors that once opened onto a fairly wide and deep front porch. Reuben Brown, a former owner of the house, was schoolmaster for the Whiteville Academy subscription from 1869-1870. Reuben and his wife, Patience Teal Brown, and their children moved into this four-room cottage in 1869. The house was relocated to 128 East Columbus Street, Whiteville, NC and is owned by the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society, Inc. The house is open by appointment and serves as a center for cultural events in the town of Whiteville.

Vineland Station Depot Museum
The fully restored 1905 Vineland Station Depot houses a museum room with local railroad artifacts including a conductors uniform.