Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1891 on and old-book passages.
The Columbia post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Columbia’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Columbia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Columbia.
From Wikipedia’s history of Columbia.
In 1909, Jersey Central Power and Light built the hydroelectric Columbia Lake Dam on the Paulins Kill, forming Columbia Lake. It was removed in 2018 to provide safe fish passage and improve the river and stream habitat.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Columbia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Columbia is on the Delaware River at the mouth of the Paulins Kill, opposite Portland, Pennsylvania, with which it is connected by a wooden covered bridge, which has recently been purchased and opened as a free bridge, it having been a toll bridge since its construction by the Columbia & Delaware Bridge Company in 1869. It is seven hundred ninety-six feet long with four spans of nearly two hundred feet each, and a driveway eighteen feet wide.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In a few instances, however, traces of camp sites have been noted on the top of low hills flanking the river; for instance at a point opposite the lower end of Shawnee Island, again 2 miles north of Columbia, at the mouth of Stony Brook, also on the hill extending south of Columbia, at Delaware, and on the hill half a mile from the river between Martin’s Creek Station and Harmony Station. The surface soil on the flats consists mostly of fine sandy or silty loam, and it seems that this kind of soil always met with the approval of the redskin since it is well drained, soft under foot and is easy of digging and of cultivation.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hainesbiu;;, an -'old time" villa,<>e located on the PauiinskJH, foij ndles from its continence with the Delaware, and about tlie same distance Irom Columbia It was named in honor of John Haines, one of the pioneer settlers of the place. It has a church, store, blacksmith shoi)s, post ollice, scliool, hotel,, grist mill, and depot of the N. Y. A: S.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
2024Decatur St. nb at Green St., Columbia, NJ (2), Feb. 2…
2024Decatur St. nb at Green St., Columbia, NJ (1), Feb. 2…
2024Decatur St. nb at Columbia St., Columbia, NJ, Feb. 20…
2024Decatur St. nb approaching Columbia St., Columbia, NJ…
2024Columbia, NJ post office, Feb. 2024
2020Washington Street
2020Columbia, NJ with US 611 shield
2015Steve Forbert June 18 2015
2015Smithereens Columbia NJ Jim Babjak Pat DiNizio Dennis…
2015Mark Stuart and Steve Forbert onstage
2015Jim Babjak June 18 2015
2008Lake at the Lakota Wolf PreserveNobody well known was born in Columbia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Columbia post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
