Columbia

Columbia /kəˈlʌmbiə/ is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1820 as the county seat and home to the University of Missouri, it had a 2015 estimated population of 119,108, and it is the principal city of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, the state's fourth most populous metropolitan area. As a midwestern college town, the city has a reputation for progressive politics, public art, and powerful journalism. The tripartite establishment of Stephens College (1833), the University of Missouri (1839), and Columbia College (1851) has long made the city a center of education, culture, and athletic competition. These three schools surround Downtown Columbia on the east, south, and north; at the center is the Avenue of the Columns, which connects Francis Quadrangle and Jesse Hall to the Boone County Courthouse and the City Hall. Originally an agricultural town, the cultivation of the mind is Columbia's chief economic concern today. Never a major center of manufacturing, the city also depends on healthcare, insurance, and technology businesses. Several companies, such as Shelter Insurance, Carfax, and Slackers CDs and Games, were founded in the city. Cultural institutions include the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Museum of Art and Archaeology, and the annual True/False Film Festival. The Missouri Tigers, the state's only major athletic program, play football at Faurot Field and basketball at Mizzou Arena as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The city is built upon the forested hills and rolling prairies of Mid-Missouri, near the Missouri River valley, where the Ozark Mountains begin to transform into plains and savanna; limestone forms bluffs and glades while rain carves caves and springs which water the Hinkson, Roche Perche, and Petite Bonne Femme creeks. Surrounding the city, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Mark Twain National Forest, and Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge all form a greenbelt preserving sensitive and rare environments. The first humans were nomadic hunters who entered the area at least twelve thousand years ago. Later, woodland tribes lived in villages along waterways and built mounds in high places. The Osage and Missouria nations were expelled by the exploration of French traders and the rapid settlement of American pioneers. The latter arrived by the Boone's Lick Trail and hailed from the slave-owning culture of the Upland South, especially Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, giving Boonslick the name "Little Dixie" during the American Civil War. German, Irish, and other European immigrants soon joined. The modern populace is unusually diverse, over eight percent foreign-born. While White and Black remain the largest ethnicities, Asians are now the third-largest group. Today's Columbians are remarkably highly educated and culturally midwestern, though traces of their Southern past remain. The city has been called the "Athens of Missouri" as a reference to its classic beauty and educational emphasis, but is more commonly called "CoMo".

History

The Columbia area was once part of the Mississippian culture and home to the Mound Builders. When European explorers arrived, the area was populated by the Osage and Missouri Indians. In 1678, La Salle claimed all of Missouri for France. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed by the area on the Missouri River in early June 1804. In 1806, two sons of Daniel Boone established a salt lick 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Columbia. giving the area its early name: Boonslick. The Boone's Lick Trail wound from St. Charles to the lick in present-day Howard County. In 1818, a group of settlers, incorporated under the Smithton Land Company, purchased over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and established the village of Smithton less than a mile from current day downtown Columbia. In 1821, the settlers moved, because of lack of water, across the Flat Branch to the plateau between the Flat Branch and Hinkson creeks in what is now the downtown district. They renamed the settlement Columbia—a poetic personification of the United States.

The roots of Columbia's three economic foundations—education, medicine, and insurance—can be traced back to incorporation in 1821. Original plans for the town set aside land for a state university. In 1833, Columbia Baptist Female College opened, which later became Stephens College. Columbia College (distinct from today's), later to become the University of Missouri, was founded in 1839. When the state legislature decided to establish a state university, Columbia raised three times as much money as any other competing city and James S. Rollins donated the land that is today the Francis Quadrangle. Soon other educational institutions were founded in Columbia such as Christian Female College, the first college for women west of the Mississippi, which later became the current Columbia College. The city benefited from being a stagecoach stop of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails, and later from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. In 1822 the first hospital was set up by William Jewell. In 1830, the first newspaper began; in 1832, the first theater in the state was opened; and in 1835, the state's first agricultural fair was held. By 1839, the population (13,000) and wealth of Boone County was exceeded in Missouri only by that of St. Louis County, which at that time included the City of St. Louis.

Columbia's infrastructure was relatively untouched by the Civil War. Missouri, as a slave state, had Southern sympathies, but remained in the Union. The majority of the city was pro-Union, however, the surrounding agricultural areas of Boone County and the rest of central Missouri were decidedly pro-Confederate. Because of this, the University of Missouri became a base from which Union troops operated. No battles were fought within the city because the presence of Union troops dissuaded Confederate guerrillas from attacking, though several major battles occurred nearby at Boonville and Centralia. After the Civil War, race relations in Columbia followed the Southern pattern; a black man, George Burke, was lynched in 1889.

In 1963, Columbia become home to the headquarters of both the University of Missouri System, which today serves over 71,000 students, and the Columbia College system, which today serves about 25,000 students. The insurance industry also became important to the local economy as several companies established headquarters in Columbia, including Shelter Insurance, Missouri Employers Mutual, and Columbia Insurance Group. State Farm Insurance has a regional office in Columbia. In addition, the now defunct Silvey Insurance was once a large local employer. Columbia became a transportation crossroads when U.S. Route 63 and U.S. Route 40 (which became present-day Interstate 70) were routed through the city. Soon after the city opened the Columbia Regional Airport. The latter 20th century saw tremendous growth, and by 2000 the population was nearly 85,000 in the city proper.

In early 2006, Columbia embarked on a plan to manage the continued growth as the city passed 100,000 population. The city continues to grow, especially east around the newly opened Battle High School. The downtown district has maintained its status as a cultural center and is undergoing significant development in both residential and commercial sectors. The University of Missouri, which has tremendous economic impact on the city, experienced record enrollment in 2006 and is undertaking significant construction.

Geography

Columbia, located in northern mid-Missouri, is 120 miles (190 km) away from both St. Louis and Kansas City, and 29 miles (47 km) north of the state capital Jefferson City. The city is near the Missouri River between the Ozark Plateau and the Northern Plains. Trees are mainly oak, maple, and hickory; common understory trees include eastern redbud, serviceberry, and flowering dogwood. Riparian areas are forested with mainly American sycamore. Much of the residential area of the city is planted with large native shade trees. In Autumn, the changing color of the trees is notable. Most species here are typical of the Eastern Woodland.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 63.5 square miles (164.46 km2), of which, 63.08 square miles (163.38 km2) is land and 0.42 square miles (1.09 km2) is water.

Topography

The city generally slopes from the highest point in the Northeast to the lowest point in the Southwest towards the Missouri River. Prominent tributaries of the river are Perche Creek, Hinkson Creek, and Flat Branch Creek. Along these and other creeks in the area can be found large valleys, cliffs, and cave systems such as that in Rock Bridge State Park just south of the city. These creeks are largely responsible for numerous stream valleys giving Columbia hilly terrain similar to the Ozarks while also having prairie flatland typical of northern Missouri. Columbia also operates several greenbelts with trails and parks throughout town.

Animal life

Large mammals found in the city includes urbanized coyotes and numerous whitetail deer. Eastern gray squirrel, and other rodents are abundant, as well as cottontail rabbits and the nocturnal opossum and raccoon. Large bird species are abundant in parks and include the Canada goose, mallard duck, as well as shorebirds, including the great egret and great blue heron. Turkeys are also common in wooded areas and can occasionally be seen on the MKT recreation trail. Populations of bald eagles are found by the Missouri River. The city is on the Mississippi Flyway, used by migrating birds, and has a large variety of small bird species, common to the eastern U.S. The Eurasian tree sparrow, an introduced species, is limited in North America to the counties surrounding St. Louis. Columbia has large areas of forested and open land and many of these areas are home to wildlife.

Frogs are commonly found in the springtime, especially after extensive wet periods. Common species include the American toad and species of chorus frogs, commonly called "spring peepers" that are found in nearly every pond. Some years have outbreaks of cicadas or ladybugs. Mosquitos and houseflies are common insect nuisances; because of this, windows are nearly universally fitted with screens, and "screened-in" porches are common in homes of the area.

Culture

The Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts and Jesse Auditorium are Columbia's largest fine arts venues. Ragtag Cinema annually hosts the well-known True/False Film Festival. In 2008, filmmaker Todd Sklar completed Box Elder, which was filmed entirely in and around Columbia and the University of Missouri. The University of Missouri's Museum of Art and Archaeology displays 14,000 works of art and archaeological objects in five galleries for no charge to the public. Libraries include the Columbia Public Library, the University of Missouri Libraries, with over three million volumes in Ellis Library, and the State Historical Society of Missouri. The "We Always Swing" Jazz Series and the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival bring some of the country's finest Jazz and Blues to Columbia and Central Missouri. One of the last remaining traditional arcades in the country, Gunther's Games, is a popular destination for gamers.

Columbia has a flourishing and progressive music scene thanks in large part to many acts that come out of the university. The indie band White Rabbits was formed while the members were students at the University of Missouri before moving to Brooklyn to record and gain a higher profile. Musical artists from Columbia have been compiled by Painfully Midwestern Records with the ComoMusic Anthology series, and the "Das Kompilation" release. Although the hip genre continues to give Columbia some music recognition, it is their progressive psychedelic-heavy metal music scene that has garnered some attention lately. There are also local punk and hip-hop scenes that are gaining momentum locally. Country music singer-songwriter Brett James is also a native of Columbia. The song "Whiskey Bottle," by Uncle Tupelo, is rumored to be about the city of Columbia as it makes specific reference to a sign which used to be displayed on a Columbia tackle shop sign which read, "Liquor, Guns, and Ammo." The sign is now displayed at the downtown location of Shakespeare's Pizza.