The Tenn-Tom Waterway

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway has a remarkable history. Records from the 1750s indicate that early French explorers conceived of a link between the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers creating an inland passageway to the Gulf of Mexico.

On June 1, 1985, that long awaited dream was finally realized when the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway was opened. The Waterway is a premier civil engineering marvel of our time. It stands as one of our nation’s largest, most expensive, most complex public works projects – one that will pay dividends to commerce and industry for years to come.

The Museum Plans

The Tenn-Tom Transportation Museum will highlight not only the uniqueness of the Waterway with its extensive lock and dam system, but will incorporate artifacts and information from rail and highway transportation as well. It is the networking of the three modes that is vital to the region’s vibrant economy.
Visitors to the museum will include tourists, school groups, researchers, citizens and their families, and civic and cultural groups. From time to time special programs will be offered to these groups.

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority will operate the museum that will be headquartered in its building at 318 Seventh Street North in Columbus, Mississippi, and the museum will be open 40 hours a week.

Building the Dream: The History of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

 

DVD available.
Send check or money order in the amount of $20.83
(includes tax, shipping & handling) payable to:
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Transportation Museum
P. O. Drawer 671
Columbus, MS 39703