Columbia is a city mainly in Monroe County with a small portion in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, about south of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 10,999 at the 2020 census.

History

Columbia was first incorporated in 1859 as a small farming settlement, but had been occupied by various Native American cultures for 12,000 years. The earliest group encountered by European settlers were members of what became the Illinois Confederation, though they had moved to the area from the Great Lakes region only a few centuries before.

Geography

Columbia is located at (38.449172, -90.208500). According to the 2010 census, Columbia has a total area of , of which (or 99.37%) is land and (or 0.63%) is water. Columbia is bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. Running in a diagonal line just northeast of Columbia is the border of St. Clair County, beyond which lies Dupo to the north and Millstadt to the east. To the south is

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

. Waterloo and Columbia are expected to grow right up to the borders of the other, in effect extending St. Louis's

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

from South St. Louis County across the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into the heart of the formerly rural Monroe County.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 9,707 people. 3,792 households and 2,692 families reside in the city. The population density was 932.5 people per square mile. There were 3,977 housing units at an average density of 382 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97.4%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.4%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 2% of the population. There were 3,792 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 25.0% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 20 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $67,333 and the median income for a family was $90,486. Males had a median income of $59,396 versus $43,594 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $32,243. About 2.3% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Columbia is served by the public K-12 school district Columbia Community Unit District #4. District #4 includes Eagleview Elementary School (pre-k – 1), Parkview Elementary School (2-4), Columbia Middle School (5-8), and Columbia High School. Also located in the city is Immaculate Conception Schoo

a private Roman Catholic grade school with grades from Pre-k to eighth.

Transportation

Highways

To get to places in other towns and cities, Columbians rely mostly on the four highways located nearby. Illinois Route 3 is the only highway that runs through the city. It connects Columbia with Dupo and Cahokia in the northwest and

and Red Bud from the southeast. Illinois Route 158 has its western terminus just south of the city off of Route 3 and connects Columbia with Millstadt. Interstate 255 and

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

overlap in St. Louis and continue over the Jefferson Barracks Bridge to Columbia, where they overlap again with Route 3 in an area just north of the city.

Airport

There is a small airport, Sackman Field, on the western edge of town, named for the former Columbia schools Music Director, Uhl Sackman.

Public transportation

A public bus service, provided by MetroBus, arrives in the morning and evening in Columbia and Waterloo and transports people to the MetroLink station in East St. Louis.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Columbia, IL has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Notable people

* Nelson Mathews, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Athletics * T. J. Mathews, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

and Houston Astros *

John P. Weinel John Philip Weinel (February 23, 1916 – February 16, 2004) was an admiral in the United States Navy. Early life Weinel was born on 1916 in Columbia, Illinois. He attended public schools in Columbia and enrolled for a year at Illinois State Unive ...

, United States Navy Admiral * Josh Fleming, pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays

References

External links

City of Columbia, Illinois

{{Authority control Metro East Cities in Illinois Cities in Monroe County, Illinois Cities in St. Clair County, Illinois Populated places established in 1859 Illinois populated places on the Mississippi River 1859 establishments in Illinois