Celebrating Columbia’s founding got started on Nov. 11, 2018, marking the founding of Smithton. What’s Smithton and why are we celebrating it?

Smithton was Columbia’s predecessor.

• It was founded in 1818 by the Smithton Co., which had 35 shareholders and purchased about 3,000 acres of land.
• In 1821, the settlers decided to the Flat Branch for easier access to water and the name of the small, growing settlement was changed to Columbia.

On Nov. 11, 2018, Columbia gathered to celebrate the founding of Smithton. Here’s a collection of news coverage of the event.

• Nov. 11, 2018 — Community members remember Smithton on march to bicentennial. Source: KOMU.com. This piece includes comments from Richard Mendenhall, who portrayed Robert S. Barr, one of the early founders of Smithton, which later moved to a water source and changed the settlement’s name to Columbia. This is coverage of the Nov. 11, 2018 event marking the founding of Smithton in 1818, which in 1821 moved the Flat Branch for a water source and was then renamed Columbia.
• Nov. 11, 2018 — Columbia celebrates 200 years since the founding of Smithton. Source: Columbia Missourian, written by Liam Quinn. Summary: Smithton was founded in 1818 with the purchase of about 3,000 acres by more than 30 people. Those founders included Lilburn Boggs, the article state, who would later become the sixth governor of Missouri. The article also notes Ruby Hord, a seventh-grader from Gentry Middle School, was the winner of the T-shirt design that was emblazoned on T-shirts to mark the celebration.
• Nov. 11, 2018 — Columbia celebrates 200 years since the founding of Smithton. Source: AP, published in the Bonner County Daily Bee.
• Nov. 11, 2018 — Community celebrates bicentennial of Smithton’s founding, Photo Gallery. Source: Columbia Missourian, photography by Di Pan.
• Nov. 8, 2018 — CoMo200 to celebrate founding of Smithton. Source: Columbia Daily Tribune. The announcement of the Nov. 11, 2018 kickoff event marking the founding of Smithton, which in 1821 moved to the Flat Branch and was renamed Columbia.
• Nov. 8, 2018 — Before Columbia there was Smithton. This year, the settlement turns 200. Source: Columbia Missourian. Summary: Smithton, the predecessor to Columbia, was founded in 1818. This article announces the Nov. 11, 2018 event to celebrate Smithton/Columbia’s bicentennial.