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History · Columbia

Columbia’s post office opened in 1828, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Columbia was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listings are the Purcell-Killingsworth House and the Bank of Columbia. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1828first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Columbia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Columbia began

When was Columbia founded?

1828

The Columbia post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 290 in 18802020 census: 690198 years
Founding year: the first Columbia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Columbia’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1916, drew every building in Columbia.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,132 in 1900; 690 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of Columbia.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Columbia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Columbia’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewS. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Columbia, building by building, 1885–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Columbia fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Columbia, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,132

Peaked at 1,132 in 1900; 690 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Columbia’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Columbia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Columbia.

Read it all →

Founded in 1820, Columbia served as a major trading center for communities throughout the Wiregrass Region of Alabama between 1822 and 1833, which coincided as its time as Henry County seat. Henry County which then comprised portions of present-day Covington, Dale, Barbour, Coffee, Crenshaw, Bullock, Geneva, and Houston counties. It lost the county seat status to Abbeville in 1833.

ChaptersOld Columbia JailPurcell-Killingsworth House

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Columbia, 1828 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Columbia post office opens
  3. 1894Born hereBill Pearce is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 1,132
  6. 1912BuiltBank of Columbia is built
  7. 1912Born hereB'Ho Kirkland is born here
  8. 1939Born hereDave Edwards is born here
  9. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Columbia, decade by decade

Date unknown4 to date
S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville HighwayDate?S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville HighwayTom Bowden House, Greenwood StreetDate?Tom Bowden House, Greenwood StreetTeague-Regell House, South & Washington StreetsDate?Teague-Regell House, South & Washington StreetsJ. B. Taylor House, Washington StreetDate?J. B. Taylor House, Washington Street
Today1 recent
Columbia, Alabama2012Columbia, Alabama
On the map

Columbia on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Columbia.

Columbia on the 1980 USGS map1980Columbia sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Columbia.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway
Retake this viewS. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Columbia’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Columbia

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Purcell-Killingsworth House
Purcell-Killingsworth HouseBank of Columbia, built 1912
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Purcell-Killingsworth HouseQueen Anne
Bank of ColumbiaBuilt 1912

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Columbia

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
D
Dave EdwardsAmerican football player · b. 1939
B
B'Ho KirklandAmerican football player · b. 1912
Bill PearceAmerican politician in Florida · b. 1894
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Columbia’s post office has been open since 1828.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Green's Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Emussalocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Columbia’s history

What year was Columbia founded?

The Columbia post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Columbia?

Two places: the Purcell-Killingsworth House (listed 1982) and the Bank of Columbia (2024).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.