Columbus, Indiana. City and Business guide.

Welcome to Columbus, Indiana.

Columbus 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. It is also the principal city of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area which encompasses all of Bartholomew County.

Crump Theatre. Photo by agilitynut, October 2006
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.

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.

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.

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