Columbia, Kentucky
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Columbia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42728. It stands on Bull Run Creek. The Survey maps it on the Columbia quadrangle. 4,845 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 748 feet above sea level.
Research this city
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 6 records
Adair County Courthouselisted 1974
Columbia Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2017
John Field Houselisted 1978
Dr. Nathan Gaither Houselisted 1979
Daniel Trabue Houselisted 1974
Zion Meetinghouse and Schoollisted 1976
Population over time
2 figuresColumbia grew from 4,452 to 4,845 between 2010 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4,452 | |
| 2020 | 4,845 | +393 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 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.
- 1954 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Winchester quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Winchester quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Campbellsville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
25 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Columbia between 1998 and 2017, burning about 87 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 August 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 July 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 20 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BY-PASS |
| 6 April 2010 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 April 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 9 March 2007 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 9 March 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 March 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Kentucky Division of Forestry | HWY 61N FIRE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Columbia: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butler Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
60 of 67 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Columbia in 67 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 41 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 7 flash flood, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2012 | Hail | Columbia | $1,500,000 | An extensive hail storm brought widespread damaging hail to Adair County with insurance claims for automobiles and homes expected to exceed 1 million dollars. In Columbia, over 150 skylights at a Wal-Mart were smashed. A lengthy swath of hail fell from a supercell thunderstorm that traveled from Nell, over 10 miles southwest of Columbia, through Columbia. Extensive damage to windows, siding, roofs and gutters was noted along a west to east path along State Highway 80 southwest of Columbia, and near the intersection of State Highways 704 and 55 just south of town. |
| January 2006 | Tornado (F2) | Columbia | $150,000 | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Flash Flood | Columbia | $100,000 | Numerous roads across the county were closed due to flash flooding. A total of eight to ten inches of rain fell across Adair county from May 1-2. |
| March 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $60,000 | A large tool shed was blown down on Sand Lick Road. The roof was blown off a small shed at a residence on Cane Valley Mill Road. Several trees were blown down across State Highway 80. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $30,000 | A trained spotter reported roof damage to a business in the area from severe thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $20,000 | Local law enforcement reported trees down across multiple locations along with damage to a mobile home. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $15,000 | A tree caught fire after knocking down a power line on Harvey Street. |
| April 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $10,000 | A barn was damaged by thunderstorm winds. Trees and power lines were downed county wide. |
| April 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $2,000 | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $1,000 | A metal shed was blown away. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | A tree was blocking an unknown roadway. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Multiple trees were blown down in Columbia. |
| February 2025 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Numerous road closures were reported across Adair County as a result of flash flooding and high water. |
| September 2024 | Hail | Columbia | - | Quarter sized hail was observed in Columbia. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees and power lines were downed along Hurt Street in Columbia. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Liberty Road was impassable due to flood waters from Sulphur Creek. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees fell down on a road. One fell on a vehicle and caused damage. |
| January 2022 | Hail | Columbia | - | A viewer reported half dollar size hail in Columbia. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees were reported down in Columbia. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Several trees were reported down in central Adair County. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Local law enforcement reported trees and power lines down. Some trees fell on vehicles. |
| April 2015 | Flood | Columbia | - | A Kentucky state official reported that 6 to 10 inches of water was flowing across some roadways in the county, including Highway 704, Highway 551 and Highway South 61. |
| July 2015 | Flood | Columbia | - | An Adair County law enforcement official reported that excessive rainfall resulted in 4 to 5 inches of flowing water over Fairground Road. This caused the road to be closed for a time. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Columbia | - | An Adair County official reported to the NWS that excessive rainfall was backing up water onto Green Hills Road. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | The Columbia law enforcement reported numerous trees down along with power outages. At 235 pm CST, the Kentucky Mesonet just north of Columbia measured a 50 mph wind gust. |
| February 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | The Adair County emergency manager reported that a tree was downed in Columbia. Numerous power outages were reported around town as well. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | A county official reported tree branches across a power line at mile marker 48 on the Cumberland Parkway. |
| January 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Numerous trees were downed across Adair County. |
| March 2013 | Flood | Columbia | - | Minor flooding was reported in Columbia with several city roads under water. Oak Street, East Guardian Street, and Christine Roads were closed. A Kentucky Mesonet rain gauge measured 2.2 inches of rain within a 5 hour period. |
| February 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Law enforcements reported a tree blown down near Columbia. |
| May 2009 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Several side roads in the County were flooded with high water. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees down across the county. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Numerous trees were downed in the Columbia area. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees were downed. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Columbia | - | Hail fell near Highway 206. |
| June 2006 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Three roadways in the city of Columbia had water flowing over them. A construction site just outside the city limits was under water. Highway 704 was covered by a foot of water. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees and power lines were downed. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees were downed. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | A barn was destroyed along state highway 80. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees were downed. One was blown down across Highway 80. |
| March 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Power lines were downed. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Minor street flooding occurred, along with the erosion of road construction areas. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Numerous trees were downed. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Several trees down across county |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Several trees downed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Columbia | - | Golf ball-size hail and downed power lines reported by Columbia State Police Post. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Trees reported down. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| April 2017 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| January 2006 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
Newspapers printed here
8,222 digitised pages1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 1,172 issues, 8,222 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
| Newspaper | Published |
|---|---|
| The Adair County News | 1897 to 1987 |
What the paper printed
17,418 wordsFront pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 5 issues spread across its run from 1900 to 1922, 17,418 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.
These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.
| Issue | Paper | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1900-03-07 | The Adair County News | 3,464 words |
| 1900-05-23 | The Adair County News | 4,114 words |
| 1900-08-08 | The Adair County News | 4,559 words |
| 1900-10-17 | The Adair County News | 4,242 words |
| 1922-12-26 | The Adair County News | 1,039 words |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Hills | 1.2 miles | 9 | |
| Butler Branch (historical) | 1.6 miles | 9 | |
| Longview (historical) | 1.7 miles | 9 | |
| Pelham Branch (historical) | 2.0 miles | 9 | |
| South Columbia (historical) | 2.1 miles | 9 | |
| Hunter (historical) | 2.9 miles | 9 | |
| Garlin | 3.0 miles | 9 | |
| Tabor (historical) | 3.0 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 Q990631 | 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 489885. 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.




