Columbiana is a city in northern Columbiana and southern Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. The population was 6,559 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Salem micropolitan area and the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. The childhood home of notable inventor and businessman Harvey S. Firestone, the city hosts the annual Shaker Woods Arts & Crafts Festival, which brings national attention to the city in the summer and fall seasons. It has historically been a regional transportation hub, lying along portions of Ohio State Route 7, 14, 46, and 164 as well as the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and the Youngstown and Southeastern Railroad. In addition to a traditional

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

, the city is home to the 1930s themed Firestone Farms shopping and business park. In 2019, Columbiana was named
The Nicest Place In America
by ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

''.

History

Columbiana was laid out by Joshua Dixon and William Heald in 1805. The city takes its name from Columbiana County, which itself is named in honor of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, combining his surname with the

mass noun In linguistics, a mass noun, uncountable noun, non-count noun, uncount noun, or just uncountable, is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete elemen ...

suffix -iana. Columbiana was incorporated as a village in 1837. When founded, the village had a north–central location in Columbiana County; however, the formation of Mahoning County in 1846 caused it to straddle the border between the two counties. The village officially became a city in 2000.

Geography

Columbiana is located at (40.885579, -80.688327). Most of the city is located in Fairfield Township, Columbiana County, which in turn includes most of Columbiana's incorporated land in Columbiana County. A district of northern Columbiana lies in Beaver Township, Mahoning County, and another small portion to the east lies in Unity Township, Columbiana County. The following highways pass through Columbiana: * OH-7

State Route 7 * OH-14

State Route 14 * OH-46

State Route 46 * OH-164

State Route 164 According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

2010 census

At the 2010 census there were 6,384 people in 2,881 households, including 1,763 families, in the city. The population density was . There were 3,181 housing units at an average density of . The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the city was 97.7% White, 0.6% African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.0%. Of the 2,881 households 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.8% were non-families. 34.5% of households were one person and 18.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.74. The median age was 49.4 years. 17.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.9% were from 25 to 44; 27.7% were from 45 to 64; and 27.4% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.6% male and 53.4% female.

2000 census

At the 2000 census there were 5,635 people in 2,534 households, including 1,576 families, in the city. The population density was 930.4 people per square mile (359.0/km). There were 2,707 housing units at an average density of 446.9 per square mile (172.5/km). The

of the city was 98.86% White, 0.11% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.07% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.32%. Of the 2,534 households 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.9% of households were one person and 17.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.76. The age distribution was 19.0% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.3% 65 or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males. The median household income was $34,560 and the median family income was $42,363. Males had a median income of $33,693 versus $21,648 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,727. About 4.9% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Throughout the year, many events are hosted in the city. During the summer, the Shaker Woods Festival showcases over 200 crafters and artisans from across the nation during August. Additionally, the city hosts a Fourth of July fireworks festival, as well as the Harvey S. Firestone Festival of the Arts. In the fall, the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of ...

hosts a civic Street Fair, followed by Christmas in the Woods, which is another large-scale craft event held on the Shaker Woods grounds. During the holiday season, the city features the Joy of Christmas Holiday Light Festival. For spring, Columbiana features an outdoor French Market in May, and the Columbiana Wine Festival in June. The city contains a public library, first opened in 1933.

Government

Columbiana operates under a chartered

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council gover ...

, where there are six council members elected as a legislature for 4-year terms in addition to a mayor, who serves as an executive. The council employs a city manager for administration. The current mayor is Rick Noel, and the current city manager is Lance Willard.

Education

Children in Columbiana are served by the Columbiana Exempted Village School District. The current schools serving Columbiana are: * Joshua Dixon Elementary School – grades K-4 * Columbiana Middle School – grades 5-8 *

Columbiana High School Columbiana High School is a public high school in Columbiana, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Columbiana Exempted Village School District. Athletic teams compete as the Columbiana Clippers in the Ohio High School Athletic A ...

– grades 9-12 Some local children attend Heartland Christian School, which first opened for the 1996–1997 school year. The school's philosophy is based on the Bible.About Us
, Heartland Christian School, 2006. Accessed 2007-09-10.

Notable people

* Pete Allen,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

catcher,

proctologist Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but this term is now used infrequently within medicine and is most often employed to identify practices relat ...

* J. Warren Bettis, jurist * Linda Bolon, member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

from the 1st district * Harvey Firestone, businessman & founder of the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheele ...

* Jacob Hostetter, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 4th District * Craig Newbold, member of the

from the 1st district * John D. Shivers Jr., member of the

from the 3rd district * Paul Stamets,

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

, advocate of

medicinal fungi Medicinal fungi are fungi that contain metabolites or can be induced to produce metabolites through biotechnology to develop prescription drugs. Compounds successfully developed into drugs or under research include antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, ...

and mycoremediation * William Thornton Watson,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

er officer in the Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars, Commanding Officer of the Papuan Infantry Battalion,

Australia national rugby union team The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

captain, Australian vice-consul to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Clarence Wetzel Clarence Wetzel (February 24, 1899 – June 1972) was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Hailing from Columbiana, Wetzel was a longtime politician, notably as a long term state representative. He ran for Ohio's 18th congressio ...

, member of the

from the 34th district * Jason Wilson, member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the s ...

from the 30th district

References

External links

City website

Columbiana Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Columbiana County, Ohio Cities in Mahoning County, Ohio Populated places established in 1805 1805 establishments in Ohio Cities in Ohio