Editing Columbia, Missouri (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Columbia, Missouri}}
[[File:CoMoPano1869.jpg|thumb|An aerial depiction of Columbia's downtown district in 1869. The large building on the right is University of Missouri Academic Hall.|alt=An artists rendering of downtown Columbia in 1869]]

Columbia's origins begin with the settlement of [[American pioneer]]s from Kentucky and Virginia in an early 1800s region known as the [[Boonslick]]. Before 1815 settlement in the region was confined to small log forts due to the threat of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] attack during the [[War of 1812]]. When the war ended settlers came on foot, horseback, and wagon, often moving entire households along the [[Boone's Lick Road]] and often bringing [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved African Americans]]. By 1818 it was clear that the increased population would necessitate a new county be created from territorial [[Howard County, Missouri|Howard County]]. The [[Moniteau Creek (north central Missouri)|Moniteau Creek]] on the west and [[Cedar Creek (Missouri River tributary)|Cedar Creek]] on the east were obvious natural boundaries.

Believing it was only a matter of time before a county seat was chosen, the [[Smithton Land Company]] was formed to purchase over {{convert|2000|acre|km2}} to establish the village of Smithton (near the present-day intersection of Walnut and Garth). In 1819 Smithton was a small cluster of log cabins in an ancient forest of oak and hickory; chief among them was the cabin of [[Richard Gentry (Missouri politician)|Richard Gentry]], a trustee of the Smithton Company who would become first mayor of Columbia. In 1820, Boone County was formed and named after the recently deceased explorer [[Daniel Boone]]. The Missouri Legislature appointed John Gray, Jefferson Fulcher, Absalom Hicks, Lawrence Bass, and David Jackson as commissioners to select and establish a permanent county seat. Smithton never had more than twenty people, and it was quickly realized that well digging was difficult because of the bedrock.

Springs were discovered across the [[Flat Branch (Hinkson Creek tributary)|Flat Branch Creek]], so in the spring of 1821 Columbia was laid out, and the inhabitants of Smithton moved their cabins to the new town. The first house in Columbia was built by Thomas Duly in 1820 at what became Fifth and Broadway. Columbia's permanence was ensured when it was chosen as county seat in 1821 and the Boone's Lick Road was rerouted down Broadway.

The roots of Columbia's three economic foundations—education, medicine, and insurance— can be traced to the city's incorporation in 1821.<ref name="ckbome">{{cite web | url=http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/columbia/colhis.htm | title=History of Columbia | work=[[Columbia Public Schools]] | access-date=January 1, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202045636/http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/columbia/colhis.htm | archive-date=February 2, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="bdkfqw">{{cite web | url=http://www.columbiaredi.com/pdfs/ColumbiaKudos.pdf | archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080216012203/http://www.columbiaredi.com/pdfs/ColumbiaKudos.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 16, 2008 | title=Columbia Kudos | work=Columbia Regional Economic Development (REDI) | access-date=January 1, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Original plans for the town set aside land for a state university. In 1833, Columbia Baptist Female College opened, which later became [[Stephens College]]. Columbia College, distinct from today's and later to become the [[University of Missouri]], was founded in 1839. When the state legislature decided to establish a state university, Columbia raised three times as much money as any competing 

city,<ref name="skbsjf">{{cite book | last =Switzler | first=William | title=History of Boone County, Missouri | publisher=St. Louis Western Historical Company |year=1882 | pages=300–310}}</ref> and [[James S. Rollins]] donated the land that is today the Francis Quadrangle.<ref name="skbsjf" /> Soon other educational institutions were founded in Columbia, such as Christian Female College, the first college for women west of the Mississippi, which later became [[Columbia College (Columbia, Missouri)|Columbia College]].

The city benefited from being a stagecoach stop of the [[Santa Fe Trail|Santa Fe]] and [[Oregon Trail|Oregon]] trails, and later from the [[Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad]]. In 1822, [[William Jewell (educator)|William Jewell]] set up the first hospital. In 1830, the first newspaper began; in 1832, the first theater in the state was opened; and in 1835, the state's first agricultural fair was held. By 1839, the population of 13,000 and wealth of Boone County was exceeded in Missouri only by that of [[St. Louis County, Missouri|St. Louis County]], which, at that time, included the City of [[St. Louis]].<ref>{{cite book | last =Switzler | first=William | title=History of Boone County, Missouri | publisher=St. Louis Western Historical Company |year=1882 | pages=325–327}}</ref>

The first movie shown in Columbia was screened in the [[Haden Opera House]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Dianna Borsi |date=2010-06-25 |title=Capturing Columbia's Cinema Century |url=https://comomag.com/2010/06/25/capturing-columbias-cinema-century/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=COMO Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Columbia's infrastructure was relatively untouched by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. As a slave state, Missouri had many residents with Southern sympathies, but it stayed in the Union. The majority of the city was pro-Union;<ref name="ckbome" /> however, the surrounding agricultural areas of Boone County and the rest of central Missouri were decidedly pro-Confederate. Because of this, the University of Missouri became a base from which Union troops operated. No battles were fought within the city because the presence of Union troops dissuaded Confederate guerrillas from attacking, though several major battles occurred at nearby [[Boonville, Missouri|Boonville]] and [[Centralia, Missouri|Centralia]].

After Reconstruction, race relations in Columbia followed the Southern pattern of increasing violence of whites against blacks in efforts to suppress voting and free movement: George Burke, a black man who worked at the university, was [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] in 1889.<ref>{{cite book | last =NAACP | title=Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889–1918 | publisher=NAACP |year=1919 | page=80}}</ref> In the spring of 1923, James T. Scott, an African-American janitor at the University of Missouri, was arrested on allegations of raping a university professor's daughter. He was taken from the county jail and lynched on April 29 before a white mob of roughly two thousand people, hanged from the Old Stewart Road Bridge.

[[File:University of Missouri - Memorial Union.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Memorial Union (University of Missouri)|Memorial Union]] at the University of Missouri|alt=Photograph of the Memorial Student Union at the University of Missouri]]
In the 21st century, a number of efforts have been undertaken to recognize Scott's death. In 2010 his death certificate was changed to reflect that he was never tried or convicted of charges, and that he had been lynched. In 2011 a headstone was put at his grave at Columbia Cemetery; it includes his wife's and parents' names and dates, to provide a more full account of his life.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/community-celebrates-life-of-lynching-victim-james-t-scott/article_37682fd8-806e-5805-b89e-490b9d63f69e.html | first = Katy | last = Bergen | title = Community celebrates life of lynching victim James T. Scott | website = Columbia Missourian | date = 3 May 2011 | access-date = 25 February 2021 | url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030212/https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/community-celebrates-life-of-lynching-victim-james-t-scott/article_37682fd8-806e-5805-b89e-490b9d63f69e.html |archive-date=June 16, 2018 }}</ref> In 2016, a marker was erected at the lynching site to memorialize Scott.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/new-plaque-memorializes-lynching-victim-james-t-scott/article_a59c3b3a-8765-11e6-ae5c-b7b64a4a45ed.html | first = Ann | last = Marion | title = New plaque memorializes 1923 lynching victim James T. Scott | website = Missourian | date = 30 September 2016 | access-date = 15 June 2018}}</ref> 5 years later, in 2021, the marker was removed in an act of vandalism.<ref>{{cite web |last1=City of Columbia |title=City of Columbia and University of Missouri respond to vandalism of James Scott lynching marker |url=https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/view.php?id=7454&tbiframe=1 |website=City of Columbia, MO |access-date=16 February 2024}}</ref> 
In 1901, [[Rufus Logan]] established ''The Columbia Professional'' newspaper to serve Columbia's large African American population.

In 1963, [[University of Missouri System]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/about/history/| title=History of the University| work=[[University of Missouri System]]| access-date=July 18, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820101957/http://umsystem.edu/ums/about/history/| archive-date=August 20, 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Columbia College (Columbia, Missouri)|Columbia College system]] established their headquarters in Columbia.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ccis.edu/about/ | title=Welcome to Columbia College | work=[[Columbia College (Columbia, Missouri)|Columbia College]] | access-date=July 18, 2008 | archive-date=September 19, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919054037/http://www.ccis.edu/about/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> The insurance industry also became important to the local economy as several companies established headquarters in Columbia, including [[Shelter Insurance]], [[Missouri Employers Mutual]], and [[Columbia Insurance Group]]. [[State Farm Insurance]] has a regional office in Columbia. In addition, the now-defunct Silvey Insurance was a large local employer.<ref name=":3" />

Columbia became a transportation crossroads when [[U.S. Route 63 (Missouri)|U.S. Route 63]] and [[U.S. Route 40 (Missouri)|U.S. Route 40]] (which was improved as present-day [[Interstate 70 (Missouri)|Interstate 70]]) were routed through the city. Soon after, the city opened the [[Columbia Regional Airport]]. By 2000, the city's population was nearly 85,000.<ref name = "dpmpnc"/>

In 2017, Columbia was in the path of totality for the [[Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017]]. The city was expecting upwards of 400,000 tourists coming to view the eclipse.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/solar-eclipse-here-s-what-you-need-to-know/article_95e58ca2-603e-11e7-86f0-4bdde9f6960f.html |title= Solar Eclipse 2017: Here's what you need to know |work= Columbia Missourian |access-date= September 7, 2017 | last = May | first = Ethan | date = 28 July 2017}}</ref>

On April 21st, 2025, an [[EF1 tornado]] formed in Columbia, it caused minor damage to [[Downtown Columbia, Missouri|downtown Columbia]], residential areas, and destroyed the recycling sorting facility,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacob |first=Richey |date=2025-04-21 |title=Columbia city manager declares emergency in the city after tornado |url=https://www.komu.com/news/midmissourinews/columbia-city-manager-declares-emergency-in-the-city-after-tornado/article_e7b0915d-34d6-4b29-b4c2-bb9f54046569.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=KOMU 8 |language=en}}</ref> which could take two to three years to rebuild.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Taylor Brooks, KOMU 8 |date=2025-04-21 |title=Columbia indefinitely suspends recycling after tornado destroys facility |url=https://www.komu.com/news/midmissourinews/columbia-evaluating-options-for-recycling-after-storm-destroys-sorting-facility/article_c3f416ad-e975-425c-a3aa-ccd8843df4a9.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=KOMU 8 |language=en}}</ref>Shortly after, the city announced that recycling would go to the landfill until a solution get worked out.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2025 |title=Recyclable materials to be collected as trash starting April 28 |url=https://www.como.gov/featured/crews-restart-recycling-collection/ |access-date=April 29, 2025}}</ref>