Columbia, Missouri (pop. 126,254; met. area pop. 210,864), is an important regional center of education and health care. Columbia is one of Missouri’s largest cities. It lies about midway between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Columbia is the home of the main campus of the University of Missouri, which was founded in 1839 as the first state university west of the Mississippi River. The university’s school of journalism, which opened in 1908, is the oldest in the world. Stephens College and Columbia College are also in the city. Many of Columbia’s workers are employed by the city’s hospitals and clinics, which include those of the University of Missouri and Boone Hospital Center, and a veterans’ hospital. Columbia serves as a major center of retail and agricultural trade for the surrounding region. MFA Incorporated (Missouri Farmer’s Association), an agricultural cooperative that operates throughout the Midwest, has its headquarters in the city. Several insurance companies also have their home offices in Columbia.
The Smithton Land Company founded a village near what is now Columbia in 1819. Columbia was incorporated in 1826. It is the seat of Boone County and has a council-manager government.
