The county is home to the Fort Benning Military Reservation, the county's largest employer. Fort Benning was founded at the beginning of the first World War, and was named for General Henry Lewis Benning, a Confederate general who hailed from Columbus. It is the world's largest infantry camp, and is often called the "West Point of the South."
Two plants on Georgia's Protected Plant List can be found in the county: Croomia Pauci flora and Rhododendron Prunifolium.
Fort Benning and Cusseta boast eight sites located on the National Register of Historic Places, most relating to the establishment of the fort and to Native American culture. The National Infantry Museum, constructed in 1928 as a post hospital, houses a collection of weapons, uniforms, and artifacts illustrating the role of the infantry in the nation's wars.
