The Song That Started It All (Maybe)

The first settlers of Monroe County, Illinois were pioneers from the territories of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware who arrived about 1783, but their settlements were scattered following bloody skirmishes with the natives. The settlers who came into this area between 1793 and1795 probably reasoned that this area was a favorable place to settle as the nearly 700-feet high rise between the Bottoms and the bluffs made the plateau safe from floods, protected from storms by a rise of hills on the north and east, and abundant with clear spring water.

The origin of the name "Columbia" for this place has been the subject of much discussion and conjecture among local residents. The name Columbia came into popularity at the close of the American Revolution with the sentiment that Columbus, the discoverer of America, should be memorialized. The first time the name Columbia appeared in legislation was the legislature act of the State of New York, giving the name to the Columbia University on May 1st, 1784.

During the American Revolution, a military chaplain named Timothy Dwight composed a song entitled "Columbia, Columbia to Glory Arise" which idealized the new republic as the symbol of liberty and patriotism:

Columbia! Columbia! to glory arise,

The queen of the world, and the child of the skies,

Thy genius commands thee, with raptures behold,

While ages on ages thy splendors unfold:

Thy reign is the last and the noblest of time, Most fruitful thy soil, most inviting thy clime;

Let crimes of the east ne'er encrimson thy name,

Be freedom, and science, and virtue thy fame.

Columbia subsequently became a popular name. Since the early settlers of this area had fought in the Revolution, it is possible they heard the song and decided it was a patriotic and appropriate name for the town they founded: Columbia, Illinois.