My granddaddy, he told me stories 'bout Columbus when he was a boy, long before all the big stores came 'round. He’d say, 'Son, there was a place, just a short stretch south of the main merchant square, where our people truly had somethin' of their own. Especially on a Friday or Saturday night, the air itself would be singin' – sometimes the blues, sometimes laughter – and always, always, the sizzle of something good comin' out the frying pan.'
He’d talk about the vendors, the music spillin' from doorways, the barbershops buzzin', all packed onto what was mostly known then as 4th Street South. It wasn't just a place to eat that famous whiskered fish pulled from the Tombigbee; it was the heart of our Black community, a place of spirit and enterprise when times were different. Now, history books and a special trail marker remember it. What was the everyday, flavorful name folks called this bustling, historic avenue by?
