Gertrude MA Rainey House & Blues Museum

The Gertrude "Ma" Rainey House & Blues Museum preserves the Fifth Avenue home of Gertrude Pridgett "Ma" Rainey (1886-1939), the Columbus-born singer celebrated as the "Mother of the Blues." A pioneering recording artist, Rainey cut some 90-plus sides for Paramount in the 1920s and helped popularize the blues on the vaudeville circuit; she incorporated blues into her act as early as 1904. She acquired the property in the 1920s and lived in the two-story house after retiring from touring in 1935. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house was restored and reopened as a blues museum in 2007, with exhibits interpreting Rainey's life and career and tracing the blues traditions of the lower Chattahoochee Valley.

Gertrude MA Rainey House & Blues Museum is a museum in Columbus, Muscogee County. It is one of 11 museums documented in Muscogee County, among 248 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.

The site sits at 32.4840, -84.9380 near Columbus. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hilton (historic place), about 1.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include Parkhill Cemetery, He Helped Bring And Keep Fort Benning, and Columbus State University.

This record is drawn from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.