City of Columbia, Illinois Historic Properties Architectural Survey

Welcome! Incorporation of the village of Columbia took place in 1859, but settlement in this location dates back to the late 1700s and the very beginnings of the Illinois territory. Designation of Columbia as a Certified Local Government (CLG) in 2012 stimulated community interest and helped define the need for a more comprehensive approach to preservation.

Working through its Heritage & Preservation Commission, the City of Columbia has completed its first Community Preservation Plan, funded through a grant from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), with help from Historical Foundations, Inc. of Waterloo and the Heartlands Conservancy of Mascoutah. The Community Preservation Plan identifies and evaluates current preservation efforts, recommends future efforts, delineates how best to reach preservation goals, and incorporates everything into the community’s Comprehensive Plan.

Information from the plan including results of architectural survey work, albeit with considerably more depth, is also available online through this application: RuskinARC™ is a cloud-based platform for collecting, searching, evaluating, mapping, and managing information about historic resources, districts, landmarks, and other community assets:

http://www.ruskinarc.com/city-of-columbia/city-of-columbia

The ultimate result of this planning effort will be to establish the best possible foundation for future preservation efforts. Following adoption, the Community Preservation Plan will be incorporated into the City's Comprehensive Plan.

More information about the Community Preservation Plan is available at the City web site: http://www.columbiaillinois.com/35/Community-Development

This is the summary screen. It shows details about our project and the resources contained in it. You can click MAP, LIST, or IMAGES in the menu above to get different views of our historic resources.