Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Columbia (Pa.)

COLUMBIA, a city of Lancaster co., Pa.; on the Susquehanna river, the Philadelphia and Reading, and the Pennsylvania railroads and the Pennsylvania and Susquehanna canals; 10 miles W. of Lancaster. The Susquehanna, here over a mile wide, is crossed by a bridge connecting with Wrightsville. This bridge is one of the longest in the United States. Columbia is the trade center for Lancaster and surrounding counties, and has numerous silk and lace mills, sugar refineries, ironworks, and brush factories. It is connected by electric railways with all nearby towns, and is lighted by electricity. It is the seat of Franklin and Marshall College, and has a public library, St. Peter's convent school, several newspapers and National banks. The city was founded as Wright's Ferry in 1726, by Quakers, and in 1798 it was one of the places voted upon for the National capital. The original bridge crossing the Susquehanna was burned in 1863 to prevent the Confederates marching on Philadelphia. Pop. (1910) 11,454; (1920) 10,836.