| Official Name: | Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio |
| Settlement Type: | Township |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Image Map1: | OHMap-ColumbiaStation.png |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Columbia Township in Ohio |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Ohio |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Lorain |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 66.62 |
| Area Land Km2: | 66.05 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.56 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 7411 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [3] |
| Elevation M: | 234 |
| Elevation Ft: | 768 |
| Coordinates: | 41.3211°N -81.9183°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 44028 |
| Area Code: | 440 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 39-16910[4] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1086506 |
Columbia Township, also known as Columbia Station or just Columbia, is the easternmost of the eighteen townships of Lorain County, Ohio, United States. Columbia Township is the official government name, while Columbia Station is the post office 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 and Meigs counties.
As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 7,411.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of, of which 0.6sqkm, or 0.85%, are water.[1] The west branch of the Rocky River and Plum Creek flow through the township from south to north.
Columbia Township is part of Greater Cleveland.
Located in eastern Lorain County, it borders the following townships and cities:
No municipalities are located in Columbia Township.
Columbia Township was part of the former Connecticut Western Reserve, lands ceded in 1786 by Connecticut after the American Revolution. In 1805, two years after Ohio became a state, the federal government finalized treaties with local Native Americans. The reserve was surveyed and parceled into rough 5miles blocks (smaller than the typical 6miles townships in the midwestern United States). The Bronson and Hoadley families of Waterbury, Connecticut, 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. Since Columbia Township has been continuously inhabited since 1807, it is the longest inhabited settlement in the former Western Reserve west of the Cuyahoga River.
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.[5] [6] 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.[7]
At the 2007 Homecoming, Columbia Township celebrated its bicentenary. For the previous fifty years, the township had not experienced the urban sprawl that developed in neighboring areas, but the number of farms in the township has fallen significantly.[8]
Columbia Township buildings on the National Register of Historic Places include the Columbia Town Hall and the Columbia Baptist Church.
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,[9] 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.
Columbia Station has a public library, a branch of the Lorain Public Library.[10]
The Lorain County Metro Parks opened the Columbia Reservation in 2003, a 409acres park with 285acres of high-quality wetlands in the floodplain of the west branch of the Rocky River.[11] The park has 3miles of trails running through ponds, marshes, wet meadows and swamps.[12] The park is popular with bird watchers,[13] as more than 50 species of birds, including the great blue heron, can be seen there.[14] An additional 80acres are planned to be added to the park.
Columbia Township Park is also located in Columbia Station. It is home to ten ballfields, tennis courts, a basketball court, a children's playground and a walking path on 27.1acres. The park also hosts various festivals year-round.
In 2007, the Columbia VFW completed work on a new veterans' memorial located at Columbia Township Park. The memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 2007 in front of a crowd of over 1,000.[15]
