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Welcome to Columbia ...

Columbia is located in Lancaster County<1>.


The location of Columbia has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>


While we don't have a date for the founding of Columbia, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1798.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Columbia has a population of 10,350 people<3> (see below for details).

Columbia is 360 feet [110 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Columbia lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Columbia is located in the (717) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Columbia had an population of 10,350 people. This is a decrease of 0.48% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.38% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Columbia had a population of 10,400 people. This makes Columbia the county's 4th most populous community.

The population of Columbia represents 0.08% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 67th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 10,400 people, the population of Columbia has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 10,311 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Columbia.

Communities Also Named Columbia ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Pennsylvania communities named Columbia: This one is located in Lancaster County and the other is located in Venango County.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there are 49 communities that are also named Columbia - they are located in Alabama (2), Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky, Louisiana (2), Maine, Maryland, Michigan (2), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nevada (3), New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (6), Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington (2), West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Columbia.

Communities near Columbia ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Columbia.

  • Lancaster
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • York
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
    • York is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 43,907 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for York <5>
  • Ephrata
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Elizabethtown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
    • Elizabethtown is located in Lancaster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,494 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabethtown <5>
  • Lititz
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lititz
    • Lititz is located in Lancaster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,022 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lititz <5>
  • Middletown
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Millersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Red Lion
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Manheim
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Hummelstown
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hummelstown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hummelstown
    • Hummelstown is located in Dauphin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hummelstown <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Columbia. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Columbia.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Columbia. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Columbia.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbia. Our list includes 29 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Columbia.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Columbia ...

Looking for more information about Columbia? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Columbia, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Columbia.

Adding Columbia to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Columbia in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Columbia was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Columbia post office opened in 1798.

We also found Columbia in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Columbia.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Columbia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lancaster County: www.co.lancaster.pa.us/

The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Lancaster, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Columbia.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Columbia - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024