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Columbus ( / kəˈlʌmbəs /, kə-LUM-bəs) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, [9] it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest after Chicago, and the third-most populous U.S. state capital after Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas.
- United States
- Christopher Columbus
- 781 ft (238 m)
- Ohio
Feb 6, 2024 · Ohio residents explain. Is Columbus unwelcoming? What people who love the city most say about its future. Letters to the Editor. Columbus Dispatch. Is Columbus still a 'small town?'...
- Overview
- History
- The contemporary city
Columbus, city, Franklin, Fairfield, and Delaware counties, capital (1816) of Ohio, U.S., and seat (1824) of Franklin county. It is situated in the central part of the state on the relatively flat Ohio till plain, at the junction of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Columbus is at the centre of a metropolitan complex that includes Dublin (northwest)...
Columbus was planned in 1812 as a political centre by the Ohio legislature and was named for Christopher Columbus. The state government moved to the city in 1816 from Chillicothe, and Columbus later absorbed the nearby earlier settlement of Franklinton (founded 1797). The city experienced significant growth after a feeder branch of the Ohio and Erie Canal was opened to it in 1831 and the Cumberland (National) Road from Maryland reached it in 1836. The first railroad arrived in 1850, further stimulating development.
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During the American Civil War, Columbus became a major staging area for Union forces, and Camp Chase, one of the North’s largest facilities for Confederate prisoners of war, was built on the city’s west side. The local economy continued to boom after the war. Columbus became one of the country’s major manufacturers of horse-drawn vehicles. By 1900, when the population exceeded 125,000, the city had emerged as an important transportation and commercial centre. Following damaging floods in 1913, the Scioto River was widened and levees, retaining walls, and bridges constructed, which allowed riverfront development.
In the early 21st century the fastest-growing sectors of the local economy were education and health, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services. High-technology industries and manufacturing (automobiles, motorcycles, communications equipment, steel and steel products, and nutritional supplements) were also important. The city’s favourable geographic position was enhanced by the presence of main-line railroads, an extensive highway network, and an international airport. Nearly half of the U.S. population was located within a 500-mile (about 800-km) radius of Columbus.
The main campus of the Ohio State University (1870), which has one of the largest enrollments of any American university, occupies a large site north of downtown. Other institutions of higher learning include Franklin University (1902), Capital University (1830), Ohio Dominican College (1911), Otterbein University (1847), Pontifical College Josephinum (1888), Columbus College of Art and Design (1879), Columbus State Community College (1963), and state schools for the hearing and visually impaired. Notable research organizations are Battelle Memorial Institute (1929; technology), the Orton Ceramic Foundation, and the Chemical Abstracts Service. The federal government operates a large military supply centre and other facilities. Many of the state’s institutions and offices and the state fairgrounds are in the city. The Ohio Statehouse (a limestone structure in Doric style, completed in 1861) has a monument by sculptor Levi Tucker Scofield.
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- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 23, 2021 · Unlike New York, which has been "The Big Apple" for some time, and Chicago, which has been the “Windy City,” Columbus seems to be a town in search of an image that it can call its own.
- Columbus is central to a lot of people. Forty-eight percent of Americans live within 600 miles of Columbus. Major cities like Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City are less than a day’s drive away.
- Columbus wasn’t always the capital of Ohio. When Ohio obtained its statehood in 1803, Columbus hadn’t been built yet. Chillicothe, a modest city on the Scioto River, was the original state capital.
- Columbus became the capital before it was even a city. In 1810, Ohio’s general assembly voted to choose a new, permanent capital. The lawmakers agreed that whichever locale they picked would have to lie within 40 miles of the state’s geographic center.
- Some fascinating people were born in Columbus. Famous Columbusites include R.L. Stine, author of the bestselling Goosebumps novels, and celebrity chef Guy Fieri.
The city was founded as its capitol, beside the town of Franklinton, since incorporated into Columbus. The city's early history was gradual, as residents dealt with flooding and cholera epidemics, and the city had few direct connections to other cities.
Columbus, City (pop., 2020: 905,748), capital of Ohio, U.S. Located at the junction of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, the city was planned in 1812 as a political centre and sited opposite the original 1797 settlement of Franklinton; the state government moved to the city in 1816.
