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History · Columbia

Columbia dates to 1762, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Columbia Covered Bridge and the Wallace Farm. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1790.

1762founded
2on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Columbia began

When was Columbia founded?

1762

Columbia dates its founding to 1762 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 26 in 17902020 census: 659264 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1815.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 writtenNo old photos of Columbia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1762, 14 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Columbia had its own post office from 1815 to 1908.

Columbia
1815–1908
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BungyConesGeorgesMeriden HillTinkerville
1cemetery inside Columbia
Lyman

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

Timeline

Columbia, 1762 to 1929

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1762
    FoundingColumbia is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1815Post officeThe Columbia post office opens
  5. 1857Born hereAlma Carrie Cummings is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908Post officeThe Columbia post office closes
  8. 1912BuiltColumbia Covered Bridge is built
  9. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Columbia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Columbia.

Read it all →

The township was originally chartered in 1762 and named "Preston", after Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston of Scotland. Settlers failed to meet the terms of the original grant, so the plantation was transferred in 1770 to grantees including Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet, after which it was named "Cockburn Town", incorporated on December 16, 1797. In 1811, in the lead-up to the War of 1812, Governor John Langdon changed the name to Columbia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Columbia, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Columbia NH 9-15-262026Columbia NH 9-15-26Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other residue left after the ears of corn have been removed, near Columbia, …2017Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other resi…Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other residue left after the ears of corn have been removed, near Columbia, …2017Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other resi…Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other residue left after the ears of corn have been removed, near Columbia, …2017Harvesting fodder, stripped cornstalks and other resi…A faded sketch of a farmer and his wife sowing seeds appears on this old barn near Columbia, New Hampshire2017A faded sketch of a farmer and his wife sowing seeds …Covered bridge over the Connecticut River separating New Hampshire and Vermont, near Columbia, New Hampshire. The photo…2017Covered bridge over the Connecticut River separating …ColumbiaNH WallaceFarm2016ColumbiaNH WallaceFarm
On the map

Columbia on the map, 1929 to 1988

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

Columbia on the 1929 USGS mapColumbia on the 1953 USGS mapColumbia on the 1988 USGS map1929Averill sheet · 1:62,500

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

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
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Columbia Covered Bridge
Columbia Covered Bridge, built 1912Wallace Farm
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Columbia Covered BridgeBuilt 1912
Wallace FarmFederal

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

People over time

Columbia, census by census

020040060080018001850190019502000Peak: 798

Between 26 and 798 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Colebrook1 historic placeAStratford1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Columbia’s history

What year was Columbia founded?

In 1762, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Columbia’s post office opened in 1815, and the first U.S. census counted 26 people here in 1790.

What is on the National Register in Columbia?

Two places: the Columbia Covered Bridge (listed 1976) and the Wallace Farm (2001).

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 (2), the Library of Congress (5), 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) 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.