Once on the edge of America's western frontier, Columbia served as a major transportation hub for early settlers making their way to tame the west in Conestoga wagons. Columbia sits along a distinct edge of the Susquehanna river, an area so strategically important at one time, some felt it would make the perfect capital city of America.

Columbia's main form of revenue in the beginning came from its transportation industry. Its river routes provided a convenient crossing for travelers and merchants by ferry early on. The river routes were also used to transport cargo, the perfect industrial hub for transporting lumber, coal and other goods heading to points along the eastern seaboard. Canals along the shallow Susquehanna provided transportation for goods produced in Columbia's tanneries, foundries and silk, flour and planing mills. Railroads emerged in the 1830s and became the lifeblood of the town for over 100 years. With its converging hub of canals, its railroad, and a bridge, freight that passed either east or west naturally went through Columbia, providing a rich source of revenue with no end in sight.

By the late 1850s, Columbia boasted several furnaces, four planing mills, and a saw and grist mill as well. Railroad supported industries created a relationship with one another and relied on each other for growth and business. Despite the Civil War, Columbia continued to grow and prosper. In fact the Civil War actually helped to spark even more growth in Columbia as work for their furnaces grew.

In the late 19th century Columbia became a cosmopolitan town, where nationally recognized architects designed stately homes for the town's professionals. Among those famous architects was Isaac Hobbs. Robert Morris Copeland also designed landscape gardens for many of the affluent homes of the time. Even though the lumber industry was a major influence on Columbia, the basic building material for most homes was brick, manufactured locally in the early 19th century. The town's historic district is made up of a variety of Victorian-influenced architecture. In addition, it boasts a range of styles from 18th century traditional to 20th century Art Deco.

Much of the original architecture in Columbia is still intact. In North Columbia, for example, rows of workers' homes remain, decorated in styles that celebrate Italianate, Second Empire, Greek Revival and Colonial Revival styles. Many of Columbia's early warehouses and factories continue to intermingle with modern homes.

As Columbia continued to grow into the the 20th century, lace, silk and brush factories, a knitting mill, a brewery, and several furnaces were still in operation. Then the town took a serious blow in 1909 when the railroad announced its plans to relocate its offices to Harrisburg. The railroad consolidated its operations in other areas as well, and these changes killed the heart of the community, which for generations had relied on the railroad as a bedrock of local commerce. Many industries including machine shops, foundries and furnaces, who had served the railroad, suddenly lost their markets.

The 20th century was the least prosperous for Columbia, though it tried to rebound to its former glory with its silk production. Silk became the backbone of Columbia's community until the Great Depression. Though other industrial companies including Susquehanna Glass and Anvil International, continued to drive its economy, Columbia has never regained its economic glory.

Still, the lack of economic prosperity has helped Columbia to maintain much of its historic architecture. Within the last 15 years an historic rehabilitation and revitalization has surfaced bringing specialty shops, restaurants and antique stores to the area. Over the years Columbia's residents have changed. Once Columbia was a blue collar town, filled with workers and their families. Now that industry no longer drives the economy of Columbia, it has become a 'bedroom community', filled with workers and professionals who seek out the convenient access to Route 30, traveling to York or points in eastern Lancaster County.