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Welcome to Columbia ...

The city of Columbia is located in Adair County<1> and is the County Seat for Adair County.

Columbia was established in 1802.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Columbia has a population of 4,850 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Columbia is 740 feet [226 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Columbia lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Columbia (for example, toward Science Hill), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

Area Codes for Columbia: 270 & 364<4>

The ZIP code for Columbia: 42728<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Columbia had an population of 4,850 people. This is an increase of 8.94% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 20.83% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Columbia had a population of 4,452 people (or 23.74% of the total population of Adair County). This makes Columbia the county's most populous community.

The population of Columbia represents 0.1% of the total population of Kentucky (which has 4,339,367 people), making it the state's 78th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 4,452 people, the population of Columbia increased 10.91% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 4,014 people).

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

Communities Also Named Columbia ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that 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), Louisiana (2), Maine, Maryland, Michigan (2), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nevada (3), New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (6), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (2), 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.

  • Campbellsville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbellsville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbellsville
    • Campbellsville is located in Taylor County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,430 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campbellsville <7>
  • Russell Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Greensburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greensburg have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensburg
    • Greensburg is located in Green County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,057 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greensburg <7>
  • Jamestown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Edmonton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edmonton have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonton
    • Edmonton is located in Metcalfe County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,597 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edmonton <7>
  • Flatwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flatwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
    • Flatwood is located in Adair County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Flatwood
    • From Columbia to Flatwood
  • Gadberry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Joppa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Joppa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
    • Joppa is located in Adair County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Joppa
    • From Columbia to Joppa
  • Ozark
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Absher
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Absher. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Absher
    • Absher is located in Adair County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Absher
    • From Columbia to Absher

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 14 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.<9>

X2X - From that list, the Columbia post office opened in 1825.

We also found Columbia in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

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 State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Kentucky's counties, including Adair, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Columbia.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Columbia - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 270 code has been Overlayed with the 364 area code. New phone numbers in the Columbia area will be assigned with one of these codes: 270 or 364. As a result, placing a call in the Columbia area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Columbia). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Columbia or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>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.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<9>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: 28 Apr 2025