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Columbia
Monroe County, Illinois
Columbia, Illinois is located at the
northern tip of Monroe County in Southwestern Illinois only about 12 miles
from downtown St. Louis and three miles from the Mississippi River. The
settlement that became Columbia grew up around two frontier forts. Fort
Whiteside, named after a noted frontier family from North Carolina. The
Whiteside built a fort, called Whiteside’s Station along the
Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail to protect settlers from the local Native Americans.
In 1783, Captain James Piggott and 17 families built cabins and a blockhouse
just west of modern day Columbia. Piggott later became the founder of East
St. Louis.
The
oldest part of Columbia was surveyed and platted in 1820. Columbia grew
rapidly from 1835 on due to the waves of German immigrants. The Germans
followed the Aleman tradition of building their homes close to the sidewalk
in order to increase the space in back for gardens and keeping livestock.
Many of these homes are still standing and contribute to the original
community's unique appearance. Columbia was incorporated as a town in 1859
and as a city in 1903. While most of the area surrounding the community
remains in agricultural uses, increasing development in the Columbia area is
rapidly changing its rural character.
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