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History · Columbia Township

Columbia Township’s post office opened in 1833, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on.

1833first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Columbia Township began

When was Columbia Township founded?

1833

The Columbia Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Columbia (1833), Ashland (1847) and Null's Mills (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 957193 years
Founding year: the first Columbia Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Columbia Township’s past

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

Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Columbia Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Columbia Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Columbia Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Columbia
1833–1903
Ashland
1847–1848
Null's Mills
1848–1864
Null's Mills
1867–1895
Alpine
1868–1966
Nulltown
1895–1906
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlpineColumbiaNulltown
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Columbia Township
ColumbiaConnerHalsteadKlumNulltownStevensWadamsWebb

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

Help out

Start Columbia Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Columbia Township, 1833 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Columbia post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Ashland post office opens
  4. 1848Post officeThe Ashland post office closes
  5. 1848Post officeThe Null's Mills post office opens
  6. 1864Post officeThe Null's Mills post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1903Post officeThe Columbia post office closes
  9. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Columbia Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Columbia Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Columbia Township is one of nine townships in Fayette County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 993 and it contained 423 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1833. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 993 to 957 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Columbia Township on the map, 1956 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Columbia Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Columbia Township on the 1956 USGS mapColumbia Township on the 1971 USGS map1956Alpine 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 Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Columbia Township

Nobody well known was born in Columbia Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Charles MurrayAmerican film actor of the silent era · b. 1872
Harry L. GordonAmerican politician · b. 1860
Robert B. F. PeirceAmerican politician · b. 1843
Thomas J. CasonAmerican politician · b. 1828
Tom AlleyAmerican racing driver · b. 1889
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Jackson TownshipIts storyC+Connersville Township6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOrange TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLaurel TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Columbia Township’s history

What year was Columbia Township founded?

The Columbia Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.