The first white settlers who came to the area of Columbia, Illinois, in the mid-1600s were French, L'Aigle (French for Eagle} was the name they used for the area in which Columbia was founded.1
In the mid-1700s, the British took over the territory until the Revolutionary War forced them out of the area. The colonial American settlers soon arrived and established the first permanent settlements in the area of Columbia, Fort Whiteside and Fort Piggott. Both forts were made out of log cabins and were used to protect against Indian raids.
Germans began immigrating to the area around 1833, with the majority coming in the 1840s. United States land agents had traveled to Germany to sell parcels of land to emigrating Germans. When the Germans arrived in the United States, they traveled immediately to their own parcels of land.
Entering the United States in New Orleans, these Germans went up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. They settled in the general region, including the Columbia area. The ground was not expensive, harvests were rich, and the climate was perfect for growing grain. German thrift, German tenacity and German industriousness changed the character of Columbia from a pioneer settlement to a thriving community. The hard-working nature of the early German immigrants had a direct influence on the town’s present prosperity.
In the early 1800s the American landowners in the Columbia area often hired the German immigrants who were not landowners as farmhands. Money was short, so they were given land as payment. Soon most of the land belonged to the Germans.
In 1859 Columbia was incorporated as a town as a result of the growth from German immigration. In 1868 the first railroad tracks were laid in Columbia, and the town continued to grow and develop. In 1927 Columbia became a city.
A notable feature of the community spirit was in evidence with the high level of Columbia’s interest in the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. With singular purpose, on September 22, 1904 all businesses and schools were closed and 1,000 of the 1,300 inhabitants of Columbia attended the World’s Fair on that one day. It set a record of attendance for members of one community to be at the Fair at the same time. 1
In 1959, Columbia's centennial was celebrated with a large community festival. In 1960 the “Strassenfest” was established, a three-day festival celebrating the German heritage of the community. The “Strassenfest” became so popular that it had to be transferred to St. Louis in 1972, where it now attracts more than 100,000 visitors over a three-day period every year 2.
Today Columbia is a bedroom community with a population of about 10,000, mainly of German origin. Services and construction industry are the pillars of the local commerce.
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