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Columbus (IPA: ) is the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana. The population was 39,059 at the 2000 census. It is a small city approximately 40 miles south of Indianapolis, on the east fork of the White River.

History

In 1820, the land which is now Columbus was bought by General John Tipton and Luke Bonesteel. General Tipton built a log cabin on Mt. Tipton, a small hill overlooking White River and the surrounding flat, heavily forested, swampy valley. A ferry was established in order to avoid crossing both the Flat Rock and Driftwood rivers, which join only a short distance above the site of the ferry. This became a village of three or four log cabins and in 1821, the first store was added. In the same year, Bartholomew County was organized by an act of the State Legislature and named after the famous Indian fighter, General Joseph Bartholomew. Columbus, Indiana was chartered as a city in 1864.

For years, it was recorded in the local history books that the land on which Columbus sits was donated by General Tipton. It has recently come to light that General Tipton actually sold the land. A deed showing sale of the land was acquired by the Historic Columbus Indiana website (http://www.historiccolumbusindiana.org) in 2003.

When the city of Columbus was first formed, it was called Tiptona. This name only lasted about a month, when the name was changed to Columbus. General Tipton was very upset by this, and he moved from Columbus. Later, when General Tipton became the Highway Commissioner for the state of Indiana, he decided to bypass Columbus. This was the first bypass road ever built. He was in charge of building a road from Indianapolis to Louisville and just south of Franklin, he built the Mauxferry Road and brought it south, around the west side of Columbus on its way to Seymour.

In 1844, the first railroad in Indiana reached Columbus from Madison, Indiana. This was known as the Madison branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The railroad caused the community to grow into one of the larger communities of the State of Indiana. By 1850, three more railroads came into the city.

Columbus is host to the oldest theatre in the State of Indiana: the Crump Theatre, which was built in 1889 by John Crump. Today, the building is a historical landmark and is also an all-ages venue where bands perform occasionally. Columbus is also host to the oldest, continually operated bookstore in the State of Indiana: Cummins Bookstore first began its operations in 1892.

The Irwin Union Bank building in Columbus Indiana, was built in 1954. It was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 2001 because of its architecture.

The building consists of a one-story bank structure adjacent to a three-story office annex. A portion of the office annex was built along with the banking hall in 1954. The remaining, much larger portion, designed by Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo and Associates, was built in 1973.

Eero Saarinen designed the bank building with its glazed hall to be set off against the blank background of its three-story brick annex. Two steel and glass vestibule connectors lead from the north side of this structure to the annex.

The building was designed to distance the Irwin Union Bank from traditional banking architecture, which mostly echoed imposing, neoclassical style buildings of brick or stone. Tellers were behind iron bars and removed from their customers. Saarinen worked to develop a building that would welcome customers rather than intimidate them.

Architecture

Columbus is a city known for its architecture. J. Irwin Miller, owner of the Cummins Engine Company, a local concern manufacturing diesel engines, instituted a program in which Cummins would pay the architects' fee on any building if the client selected a firm from a list they compiled. The plan was initiated with public schools. It was so successful that Miller went on to defray the design costs of fire stations, public housing and other community structures. Columbus has come to have an unusual number of notable public buildings and sculpture, designed by such individuals as Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Robert Venturi, Ceasar Pelli, Richard Meier and others. Six of its buildings, built between 1942 and 1965, are National Historic Landmarks, and 60 other buildings sustain the Bartholomew County capital seat's reputation as a showcase of modern architecture.

The National Historical Landmarks are:

Other notable buildings include:

Columbus is also the home of several companies, including Cummins Inc. and ArvinMeritor Industries.

Geography

Columbus is located at (39.213998, -85.911056). The Driftwood and Flatrock Rivers join at Columbus to form the East Fork of the White River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 68.3 km² (26.4 mi²). 67.2 km² (26.0 mi²) of it is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (1.59%) is water.

Demographics

In 1900, 8,130 people lived in Columbus, Indiana; in 1910, 8,813; and in 1940, 11,738. As of the census of 2000, there were 39,059 people, 15,985 households, and 10,566 families residing in the city. The population density was 581.1/km² (1,505.3/mi²). There were 17,162 housing units at an average density of 255.3/km² (661.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.32% White, 2.71% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 3.23% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.39% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. 2.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Households

There were 15,985 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.

Ages

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

Income

The median income for a household in the city was $41,723, and the median income for a family was $52,296. Males had a median income of $40,367 versus $24,446 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,055. About 6.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Entertainment

There are 3 theatres: Kerasotes Showplace 12 (new movies), Commons Cinema (movies close to DVD release), and Yes! Cinema (independent films and older movies). As mentioned, the downtown landmark Crump theatre is now home only to occasional local performances.

Famous Residents

External links

Cities in Indiana | Columbus, Indiana | Bartholomew County, Indiana

Columbus (Indiana) | Columbus, Indiana | コロンバス (インディアナ州)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Columbus, Indiana".

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