Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio

Columbia Township, also known as Columbia Station or just Columbia, is the easternmost of the eighteen townships of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. Columbia Township is the official government name, while Columbia Station is the post office name, and tends to be the town name used by residents. The post office name was chosen to differentiate the township from other Columbia Townships statewide, located in Hamilton and Meigs counties.

Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio
Township
Location of Columbia Township in Lorain County
Coordinates: 41°19′16″N 81°55′6″W
CountryUnited States
StateOhio
CountyLorain
Area
 • Total25.72 sq mi (66.62 km2)
 • Land25.50 sq mi (66.05 km2)
 • Water0.22 sq mi (0.56 km2)
Elevation768 ft (234 m)
Population
 • Total7,040
 • Density276/sq mi (106.6/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
44028
Area code(s)440
FIPS code39-16910[4]
GNIS feature ID1086506[2]
Websitecolumbiatwp.us
Columbia Station

As of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 7,040.[3]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 66.6 square kilometres (25.7 sq mi), of which 0.2 square miles (0.6 km2), or 0.85%, are water.[1] The west branch of the Rocky River and Plum Creek flow through the township from south to north.

Columbia Township is part of Greater Cleveland.

Located in eastern Lorain County, it borders the following townships and cities:

No municipalities are located in Columbia Township.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,[5] who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

Columbia Station has a public library, a branch of the Lorain Public Library.[6]

History
Columbia Historical Marker

Columbia Township is part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, lands ceded in 1786 by Connecticut after the American Revolution. In 1805, two years after Ohio became a state, the federal government finalized treaties with local American Indians. The reserve was surveyed and parcelled into rough 5-mile-square (8.0 km) blocks (smaller than the typical 6-mile-square (9.7 km) townships in the midwestern United States). The Bronson and Hoadley families of Waterbury, Connecticut, pooled together $20,087 to purchase a township. On April 4, 1807, they drew Township 5 N, Range 15 W from a random selection of townships in the reserve, purchasing the land site-unseen.

Bronson House Museum

Columbia Township has been continuously inhabited since 1807, the longest settlement in the Western Reserve west of the Cuyahoga River. It has other firsts in the area: the first classroom (Bronson cabin, summer of 1808), first teacher (Sally Bronson, 1808), first white child born (Sally Hoadley), first gristmill (summer of 1809), first cemetery (1811), first doctor (Zephaniah Potter, 1809), and first organized church society (Episcopal, 1809).

The Bronson House Museum (built c. 1850, 13646 W River Road) is the last home of Sally Bronson. Other Columbia Township buildings in the National Register of Historic Places include the Columbia Town Hall (added 1976, #76001468, 25496 Royalton Road) and the Columbia Baptist Church (added 1976, #76001466, 25514 Royalton Road).

The Copopa School was built in 1921. The name originates as follows:

The first post office in town was established about the year 1817. The first postmaster was Thomas G. Bronson, who kept the office in his house. The name selected was the Indian name for Rocky river, Copokah. In the papers sent from Washington the word was miswritten Copopo, and the error was never corrected.

— History of Lorain County, Ohio (1879)[7]

Farming has historically been the most significant employer in Columbia Township and the surrounding townships, but in the second half of the 19th century, sandstone from the local quarries was mined and widely distributed.[8][9] Two of the township's quarries were Jaquay Quarry and an area which later became known as Wildwood Lake. Both Jaquay and Wildwood were used as swimming parks in the late 20th century, with Wildwood operating until 2001.

On April 11, 1965, an F4 tornado swept through Columbia Township before dissipating to the east in neighboring Strongsville.[10]

At the 2007 Homecoming, Columbia Township celebrated its bicentenary. For the previous fifty years, the township had not experienced the urban sprawl that developed in neighboring areas, but the number of farms in the township has fallen significantly.[11]

Parks
Columbia Reservation
Columbia Veteran's Memorial

The Lorain County Metro Parks opened the Columbia Reservation in 2003, a 409-acre (166 ha) park with 285 acres (115 ha) of high-quality wetlands in the floodplain of the west branch of the Rocky River.[12] The park has 3 miles (5 km) of trails running through ponds, marshes, wet meadows and swamps.[13] The park is popular with bird watchers,[14] as more than 50 species of birds, including the great blue heron, can be seen there.[15] An additional 80 acres (32 ha) are planned to be added to the park.

Columbia Township Park is also located in Columbia Station. It is home to ten ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court, a children's playground and a walking path on 27.1 acres (11.0 ha). The park also hosts various festivals year-round.

In 2007, the Columbia VFW completed work on a new veterans' memorial located at Columbia Township Park. The memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 2007 in front of a crowd of over 1,000.[16]

References
  1. "U.S. Gazetteer Files: 2019: County Subdivisions: Ohio". U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. "Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Columbia township, Lorain County, Ohio". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  4. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  5. §503.24, §505.01, and §507.01 of the Ohio Revised Code. Accessed 30 April 2009.
  6. "Locations & Hours". Lorain Public Library. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  7. History of Lorain County, Ohio (1879)
  8. "Ohio History Central – Cleveland Stone Company". Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  9. "Olmstead Falls and Surrounding Quarries". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  10. "Tornado Track Across Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties, Ohio". Fujita, et al, Monthly Weather Review, 1970. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  11. "Columbia Twp. celebrates bicentennial". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  12. "Columbia Reservation". Lorain County Metroparks. Archived from the original on 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  13. "Trails" (PDF). Lorain County Metroparks. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  14. "February/March". Blackbrook Audubon Society. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  15. "KBC – Columbia Reservation Field Trip – October 11, 2003". Kirtland Bird Club. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  16. Linebrink, Melissa (November 7, 2008). "Towns complete monumental effort to honor veterans". The Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, Ohio. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
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