City of Columbus history

To be specific the capital city, i.e., Columbus was officially founded in 1812.

By 1813, a penitentiary had been built, and by the following year the first church, school, and newspaper had been established.

The statehouse was built in 1814 as well.

Columbus grew quickly in its first few years, having a population of seven hundred people by 1815.

In the years between first groundbreaking and the actual movement of the capital in 1816, Columbus grew significantly.

Although Columbus suffered as a result of the Panic of 1819, in the following decades the capital continued to grow both economically and in terms of population.

In 1831 the national road had reached Columbus Ohio city from Baltimore which helped in linking Ohio and Erie Canal, and this linking between the two cities led to population increase in the area.

By 1836, the National Road extended from Cumberland, Maryland, to Columbus, and within the next several years eventually extended all the way to Illinois.

The first railroad arrived in 1850, further stimulating development.

The Ohio Statehouse (a limestone structure in Doric style, completed in 1861) has a monument by sculptor Levi Tucker Scofield.

By the time the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, about 10,000 men were confined at Fort Chase.

The main campus of the Ohio State University (1870), which has one of the largest enrollments of any American university, occupies a large site north of downtown.

In 1878, the college expanded its offerings and changed its name to Ohio State University.

In 1913, the Scioto River flooded the valley, killed more than 100 people, and caused an estimated $9 million in property damage.

Notable research organizations are Battelle Memorial Institute (1929; technology), the Orton Ceramic Foundation, and the Chemical Abstracts Service.

Unprecedented industrial growth occurred after 1940.

Hoover Dam (1955), on the latter, created another reservoir near Columbus.

Columbus History The Columbus Historical Society (CHS) was founded in 1990 and has become one of the premier non-profit cultural organizations in Central Ohio.

The city has the largest population in Ohio, numbering 790,389 people in 2010.