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.

Exhibits
The museum will display in user-friendly ways a treasure trove of items, event memorabilia, and other historical information that depict the evolution of the Tenn-Tom region’s transportation systems. Special emphasis will be given to the waterway. Included will be artifacts and other items of historical importance obtained from the Smithsonian Institute and from state and federal archives. The Transportation Museum’s exhibits will be periodically changed to provide a continuing source of new and educational information for its attendees.