Columbia, Alabama
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Columbia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36319. It stands on Omusee Creek. The Survey maps it on the Columbia quadrangle. 690 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 223 feet above sea level.
On record in Columbia
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Bank of Columbialisted 2024
Purcell-Killingsworth Houselisted 1982
Surveyed buildings and structures 4 records
- J. B. Taylor House, Washington Street, Columbiafederal building survey, 3 photographs
- S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway, Columbiafederal building survey, 3 photographs
- Teague-Regell House, South & Washington Streets, Columbiafederal building survey, 1 photograph
- Tom Bowden House, Greenwood Street, Columbiafederal building survey, 1 photograph
Population over time
4 figuresColumbia grew from 290 to 690 between 1880 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 290 | |
| 2000 | 804 | |
| 2010 | 740 | -64 (-8%) |
| 2020 | 690 | -50 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:100000
Photographs
4 photographs,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
215 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 215 fires within 5 miles of Columbia between 1992 and 2020, burning about 956 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 14 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 99 |
| Debris and open burning | 67 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 1997 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1997 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 5.4 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2020EARLY009 |
| 23 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190923-15 |
| 23 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160923-3 |
| 23 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2.5 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2017-EARLY-015 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Columbia: 5 unknowns, 4 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Deposit | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Deposit | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Deposit | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Iron Deposit | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
15 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Columbia in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | Flood | Columbia | $891,000 | Significant river flooding along the Chattahoochee River and heavy rainfall in the county resulted in flood damages estimated at $891,000 in Houston county. Of that amount, $500,000 was due to damage at the Columbia and Gordon boat landings along the Chattahoochee River, $366,000 was due to damage to roads and bridges in the county, and $25,000 was due to damage to the Omussee Park building. |
| April 2014 | Flood | Columbia | $818,460 | Persistent moderate to heavy rain falling on saturated ground from previous heavy rain during the month led to numerous flooded roads across the county. Most of the damage was caused by dirt road washouts and cross-drain wash outs. Some roads affected included: Bruner Pond, Willie Varnum, Nobles, Ludlum, Cobb, Silcox, Hollis Dairy, Jimbo, Willie Raley, Pine Acres, Goodson, Lamp Bros, Jimmy Harper, Dock Lamb, JD Love, NCR75, Sowell, Stone Bluff, Davis Cherry, Iris, Barfield, and roads around the Chattahoochee State Park area. Road damage was estimated at $818,455. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $5,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Columbia. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $4,300 | Trees were blown down with damage to an automobile and power lines were down as well. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate. |
| January 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $3,000 | Trees and power lines were reported down in the Columbia area. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $3,000 | Power lines were blown down in Columbia. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $2,000 | A power line was blown down in Columbia. |
| December 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $2,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down in the Columbia area. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $2,000 | The Dothan Eagle reported trees down on River Road in Columbia. Monetary damage was estimated. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $1,000 | Downed trees on Highway 52 reported by the Houston County EMA. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | A tree was blown down just west of Columbia. |
| February 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees were blown down near a residence in Columbia. |
| September 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | A few trees were blown down around Columbia. |
| April 1998 | Hail | Columbia | - | Quarter sized hail reported by Houston County EMA. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williams | 2.9 miles | 7 | |
| Sigma | 4.6 miles | 7 | |
| Pleasant Plains | 6.3 miles | 7 | |
| Pearce | 6.5 miles | 7 | |
| Seminole Heights | 7.6 miles | 7 | |
| Barber | 7.7 miles | 7 | |
| Webb | 8.9 miles | 7 | |
| Philadelphia | 9.1 miles | 9 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Columbia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q68444 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 116457. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





