Columbia in Boone County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Columbia
Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024
1. Columbia Marker
front side, facing the park
Columbia, "Educational Center of Missouri", originated in the town of Smithton, laid out by the Smithton land Company, 1819. By 1821, when the name was changed, the town was the seat of Boone Co., organized 1820, and named for Daniel Boone who died that year in St. Charles Co., Missouri.
Here between St. Louis and Kansas City in the famed old Boon's Lick Country are the University of Missouri, chartered 1839, first state university west of Mississippi, Christian College, first school of college rank for women chartered in Missouri, 1851, and Stephens College, chartered 1857, which traces its beginnings to Columbia Female Academy, 1833.
The offices and outstanding Missouriana library and historical art collections of the State Historical Society of Missouri are in Columbia. Founded in 1898, the Society has now the largest state historical society membership in the U.S. Here also are the offices of the Missouri Press, Missouri State Teachers and Missouri Farmers' Association and here are the Ellis Fischel State Cancer, Boone Co., and University Hospitals.
Columbia, settled mainly by Kentuckians and Virginians,
this page online
When the Geyer Act created a state university, 1839, Columbia and Boone Co. won the location with a subscription of $117,900. They again gave materially when the University became a land-grant college, first west of Mississippi, 1870. Expansion of the University stems from this date. Prior to this it suffered from Civil War unrest and occupation of this pro-Southern town by Union troops whose headquarters were at the University. Among prominent University divisions is the 1906 School of Journalism, first of its kind in the world.
Memorials on the campuses of Stephens and Christian colleges and the University honor the leaders and benefactors of the schools. Among sites of interest on the University campus are the columns of its first building; Thomas Jefferson gravestone; Memorial Tower; and Sanborn (Agr. Exper.) Field. In town are the old courthouse columns and a Boon's Lick Trail marker.
Erected 1953 by the State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission.
Topics and series. This historical
Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024
2. Columbia Marker
reverse side, facing the parking lot
Location. 38° 56.226′ N, 92° 18.446′ W. Marker is in Columbia, Missouri, in Boone County. It is on Old U.S. 63 just south of Shepard Boulevard, on the right when traveling south. Marker is located at Sterling W. Wyatt Memorial Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1001 Old 63 S, Columbia MO 65201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Little Dixie and in the Missouri River Corridor. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: War Memorial (a
Photographed by Jason Voigt, June 25, 2024
3. Columbia Marker
Marker is located at Sterling W. Wyatt Memorial Park
Additional keywords. University of Missouri, Land grant universities
Credits. This page was last revised on May 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 31, 2017, by Jeneva Pace of Columbia, Missouri. This page has been viewed 1,110 times since then and 75 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 25, 2024, by Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
