Columbia Station, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Civil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...
of Lorain County
Lorain County, Ohio
Lorain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio, and is considered to be a part of what is locally referred to as Greater Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, its population was 301,356. an increase from 284,664 in 2000...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Columbia Township is the official government name, while Columbia Station is the post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
name, and tends to be the town name used by residents. The post office name was chosen to differentiate the township from other Columbia Townships statewide, located in Hamilton
Columbia Township, Hamilton County, Ohio
Columbia Township is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 6,557 people in the township, 4,619 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
and Meigs
Columbia Township, Meigs County, Ohio
Columbia Township is one of the twelve townships of Meigs County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,018 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the northwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships:...
Counties.
As of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, the township had a total population of 6,912 in 2,452 residences.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the township has a total area of 25.7 square miles (66.5 km²), of which, 25.3 square miles (65.6 km²) of it is land and 1.34% is water. The west branch of the Rocky River
Rocky River (Ohio)
The Rocky River is a relatively short river which forms the western boundaries of the cities of Cleveland and Lakewood, Ohio. The city of Rocky River, on the west bank bordering Lakewood, is named after the river...
and Plum Creek flow through the township from south to north.
Columbia Township is part of Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland
Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio and is part of what used to be the Connecticut Western Reserve.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below...
.
Located in eastern Lorain County, it borders the following townships and cities:
- Olmsted Township, Cuyahoga CountyOlmsted Township, Cuyahoga County, OhioOlmsted Township is a township located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the township had a population of 13,513. It is one of only two civil townships remaining in Cuyahoga County and the only Olmsted Township statewide....
- north - BereaBerea, Ohio- History :The first European settlers were originally from Connecticut. Berea fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into townships and ranges by one Gideon Granger, a gentleman who served as Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson...
- northeast corner - StrongsvilleStrongsville, OhioAs of the census of 2000, there were 43,858 people, 16,209 households, and 12,383 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,779.6 people per square mile . There were 16,863 housing units at an average density of 684.2 per square mile...
- east - Brunswick Hills Township, Medina CountyBrunswick Hills Township, Medina County, OhioBrunswick Hills Township is one of the seventeen townships of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 5,469 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the northern part of the county, it borders the following townships and cities:...
- southeast corner - Liverpool Township, Medina CountyLiverpool Township, Medina County, OhioLiverpool Township is one of the seventeen townships of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 4,329 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the northern part of the county, it borders the following townships and city:...
- south - Grafton TownshipGrafton Township, Lorain County, OhioGrafton Township is one of the eighteen townships of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,722 people in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:Located in southeastern Lorain County, it borders the following townships:...
- southwest corner - Eaton TownshipEaton Township, Lorain County, OhioEaton Township is one of the eighteen townships of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 9,675 people in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
- west - North RidgevilleNorth Ridgeville, OhioNorth Ridgeville,is a city located along the eastern border of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The city's population was 29,465 at the 2010 census. A west side suburb of Cleveland, North Ridgeville is the number 1 fastest growing city in the entire Greater Cleveland area.Located from Cleveland...
- northwest corner
No municipalities are located in Columbia Township.
Government
The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.History
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut from 1662 to 1800 in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.-History:...
, lands ceded in 1786 by Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
after the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. In 1805, two years after Ohio became a state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, the federal government finalized treaties with local American Indians. The reserve was surveyed and parcelled into rough 5 miles (8 km)-square blocks (smaller than the typical 6 miles (9.7 km)-square townships in the U.S.). The Bronson and Hoadley families of Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
pooled together $20,087 to purchase a township. On April 4, 1807, they drew Township 5 N, Range 15 W from a random selection of townships in the reserve, purchasing the land site-unseen.
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
. It has other firsts in the Western Reserve west of the Cuyahoga: the first classroom (Bronson cabin, summer of 1808), first teacher (Sally Bronson, 1808), first white child
First white child
The birth of the first white child was a celebrated occasion across many parts of the New World. Such births are a matter of pride for many townships, and they are commemorated with plaques and monuments at the location of the event. The birth was seen as such an honor that it was at times...
born (Sally Hoadley), first gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
(summer of 1809), first cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
(1811), first doctor (Zephaniah Potter, 1809), and first organized church society (Episcopalian, 1809).
The Bronson House Museum (built c. 1850, 13646 W River Road) is the last home of Sally Bronson. Other Columbia Township buildings in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
include the Columbia Town Hall (added 1976, #76001468, 25496 Royalton Road) and the Columbia Baptist Church (added 1976, #76001466, 25514 Royalton Road).
The Copopa School was built in 1921. The name originates as follows:
Farming has historically been the most significant employer in Columbia Township and the surrounding townships, but in the second half of the 19th century, sandstone from the local quarries was mined and widely distributed. Two of the township's quarries were Jaquay quarry and an area which later became known as Wildwood Lake. Both Jaquay and Wildwood were used as swimming parks in the late 20th century, with Wildwood operating until 2001.
On April 11, 1965, an F4 tornado swept through Columbia Township before dissipating to the east in neighboring Strongsville
Strongsville, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 43,858 people, 16,209 households, and 12,383 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,779.6 people per square mile . There were 16,863 housing units at an average density of 684.2 per square mile...
.
At the 2007 Homecoming, Columbia Township celebrated its bicentenary. For the previous fifty years up, the township had not experienced the urban sprawl that developed in neighboring areas, but the number of farms in the township has fallen significantly.
Parks
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
of the west branch of the Rocky River
Rocky River (Ohio)
The Rocky River is a relatively short river which forms the western boundaries of the cities of Cleveland and Lakewood, Ohio. The city of Rocky River, on the west bank bordering Lakewood, is named after the river...
. The park has 3 miles (5 km) of trails running through ponds, marshes, wet meadow
Wet meadow
A wet meadow is a semi-wetland meadow which is saturated with water throughout much of the year. Wet meadows may occur because of poor drainage or the receipt of large amounts of water from rain or melted snow. They may also occur in riparian zones....
s and swamps. The park is popular with bird watchers, as more than 50 species of birds, including the Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, can be seen there. An additional 80 acres (32.4 ha) are planned to be added to the park.
Columbia Township Park is also located in Columbia Station. It is home to ten ball fields, tennis courts, a basketball court, a children's playground and a walking path on 27.1 acres (11 ha). The park also hosts various festivals year-round.
In 2007, the Columbia VFW
VFW
VFW may refer to:*Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke*Veterans of Foreign Wars*Veterans of Future Wars*Video for Windows*VFW Parkway...
completed work on a new Veteran's Memorial located at Columbia Township Park. The memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
2007 in front of a crowd of over 1,000 people.
Media attention
On September 11, 2001 9:35:09am, United Flight 93 veered off-course precisely over Columbia Township.On November 3, 2006, the Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode regarding safe-haven laws entitled "All-American Tragedy" which centered on a story related to Columbia Township.