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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.

Columbia within Houston County

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 4 records

Population over time

4 figures

Columbia 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.

YearPeople Change
1880290
2000804
2010740-64 (-8%)
2020690-50 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 printed sheets

Matched 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.

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.

S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway, Columbia, Houston County, AL
S. M. Dunwoody House, Abbeville Highway, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
J. B. Taylor House, Washington Street, Columbia, Houston County, AL
J. B. Taylor House, Washington Street, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Tom Bowden House, Greenwood Street, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Tom Bowden House, Greenwood Street, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Teague-Regell House, South & Washington Streets, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Teague-Regell House, South & Washington Streets, Columbia, Houston County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

215 since 1992

Regional 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 maintenance99
Debris and open burning67
Equipment and vehicle use15
Arson/incendiarism14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Recreation and ceremony6
Natural5
Smoking2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 September 1997Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 1997Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1999Debris and open burning5.4 acresGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2020EARLY009
23 September 2019Debris and open burning20 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190923-15
23 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160923-3
23 September 2016Debris and open burning2.5 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2017-EARLY-015

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Houston County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Columbia PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed DepositIronOccurrence
Unnamed DepositIronOccurrence
Unnamed DepositIronOccurrence
Unnamed Iron DepositIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Houston County

Storms near this place

15 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2015FloodColumbia$891,000Significant 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 2014FloodColumbia$818,460Persistent 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 2015Thunderstorm WindColumbia$5,000Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Columbia.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindColumbia$4,300Trees 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 2026Thunderstorm WindColumbia$3,000Trees and power lines were reported down in the Columbia area.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindColumbia$3,000Power lines were blown down in Columbia.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindColumbia$2,000A power line was blown down in Columbia.
December 2018Thunderstorm WindColumbia$2,000Trees and power lines were blown down in the Columbia area.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindColumbia$2,000The Dothan Eagle reported trees down on River Road in Columbia. Monetary damage was estimated.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindColumbia$1,000Downed trees on Highway 52 reported by the Houston County EMA.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindColumbia-A tree was blown down just west of Columbia.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindColumbia-Trees were blown down near a residence in Columbia.
September 2015Thunderstorm WindColumbia-A few trees were blown down around Columbia.
April 1998HailColumbia-Quarter sized hail reported by Houston County EMA.
April 2021HailColumbia-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Houston County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Williams2.9 miles7
Sigma4.6 miles7
Pleasant Plains6.3 miles7
Pearce6.5 miles7
Seminole Heights7.6 miles7
Barber7.7 miles7
Webb8.9 miles7
Philadelphia9.1 miles9

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 ColumbiaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q68444The 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.