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History · Columbia Township

30% of Columbia Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on.

0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Columbia Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Columbia Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hillham
1864–1937
Crystal
1889–1919
Cuzco
1902–1955
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrystalCuzcoHillhamNorton
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Columbia Township
BurtonRobinsonWininger

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

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 twelve townships in Dubois County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,065 and it contained 467 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,065 to 999 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Columbia Township, 1864 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Hillham post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Crystal post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902Post officeThe Cuzco post office opens
  6. 1919Post officeThe Crystal post office closes
  7. 1937Post officeThe Hillham post office closes
  8. 1955Post officeThe Cuzco post office closes
  9. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Columbia Township, decade by decade

Today13 recent
Dubois2013DuboisColumbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (9)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (9)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (8)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (8)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (7)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (7)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (6)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (6)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (5)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (5)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (4)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (4)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (3)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (3)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (17)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (17)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (13)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (13)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (12)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (12)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (11)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (11)Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (10)2013Columbia Township, IN, USA - panoramio (10)
On the map

Columbia Township on the map, 1957 to 1980

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 1957 USGS mapColumbia Township on the 1980 USGS map1957Cuzco 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 →
Larry BirdAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1956
Mike BraunAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1954
Brad EllsworthAmerican politician · b. 1958
Frank W. MilburnUnited States Army general · b. 1892
Charles Hall DillonAmerican politician · b. 1853
D
Daniel M. BuechleinRoman Catholic archbishop in the United States · b. 1938
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hall TownshipIts storyCHarbison Township1 historic placeA−Lost River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Columbia Township’s history

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 (13), 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.