Columbus, Ohio

City History

After achieving statehood in 1803, political squabbling amid Ohio's more prominent leaders resulted in the state capital moving from Chillicothe to Zanesville and then back again. The state legislature eventually decided the capitol to be in a central location. Land speculators, with Sullivant's support, made an offer to the Ohio General Assembly to name the capitol city in honor of Christopher Columbus, therefore Columbus was founded on February 14, 1812. A considerable Irish population settled in the north, while the Germans took advantage of the south, creating a community that came to be known as "The Old South End". Columbus' German population is responsible for constructing numerous breweries, a church, university and for instituting the first kindergarten in the United States. With a population of 3500, Columbus was officially chartered as a city on March 3, 1834. During the Civil War, Columbus was the home of Camp Chase, a major base for the Union Army that housed 26,000 troops and held up to 9,000 Confederate prisoners of war. Over 2,000 Confederate soldiers remain buried at the site, making it one of the largest Confederate cemeteries in the North By the end of the 19th century, Columbus saw the rise of several major manufacturing businesses including buggy manufacturers, popular brewing companies and the steel industry. Columbus was also a popular location for the organization of labor A construction boom occurred in the 1920s, resulting in a new Civic Center, the Ohio Theatre and to the north, a massive new Ohio Stadium. The effects of the Great Depression were a bit less severe in Columbus, as the city's diversified economy helped it fare better than its neighbors. World War II brought a tremendous number of new jobs to the city and with it another population surge. Today Columbus is the capital and the largest city of Ohio. The city has a diverse economy based on education, insurance, healthcare, and technology. Residents of Columbus are usually referred to as "Columbusites."

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