Columbus, OH Summer Camps

About Columbus, OH

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio . The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati . Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest , and the fifteenth largest city in the United States of America . It is the county seat of Franklin County , yet the city has expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County and Fairfield County . Named for explorer Christopher Columbus , the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. Modern Columbus has emerged as a technologically sophisticated city. It is home to the world's largest private research and development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute ; CAS, or Chemical Abstracts Service , the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets , the world's largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University , the nation's largest campus. In 2009, BusinessWeek named the city as the best place in the country to raise a family. Forbes Magazine in 2008 ranked the city as the no. 1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation, and the city was ranked a top ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, fDi Magazine ranked the city no. 3 in the U.S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no. 1 in 2009 by USA Travel Guide . In 2008, MarketWatch named Columbus as the 7th best place to do business in the nation. In 2011, the city had five corporations named to the U.S. Fortune 500 list including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company , American Electric Power , Limited Brands , Momentive Specialty Chemicals, and Big Lots . Major foreign corporations operating or with divisions in the city include Germany -based Siemens and Roxane Laboratories , Finland -based Vaisala , Tomasco Mulciber Inc., and A Y Manufacturing, as well as Switzerland -based ABB Group and Mettler Toledo . The population of the city was 787,033 at the 2010 census , making it the most populous city in Ohio. In 2008, Columbus was the 16th largest city in the United States, with 754,885 residents, but has only the 32nd largest metropolitan area , and the fourth most populous state capital in the U.S. 2008 estimates indicate that roughly 116,000 of the city's residents are foreign-born, accounting for 82% of the new residents between 2000-2006. According to the U.S. Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 1,773,120, and the Combined Statistical Area has a population of 2,031,229. Columbus is located within 550 miles of half of the population of the United States.

History of Columbus, OH

History Ohio Country Map of the Ohio Country between 1775-1794 depicting locations of battles and massacres surrounding the area which would eventually become the location of the city. The region where modern-day Columbus is found was once called the Ohio Country , under the control of the French Empire through the Vice-royauté of New France . European traders flocked to the area, in the interests of the fur trade. The area was consistently caught between warring factions, including Native American and European interests. In the 1740s Pennsylvania traders had overrun the territory until the French forcibly evicted them. In the early 1750s George Washington was sent to the Ohio Country by the Ohio company to survey, and the fight for control of the territory would spark Europe's Seven Year's War with the French and Indian War . The Treaty of Paris ceded the country to the British Empire in 1763. During this period the country was routinely engaged in turmoil, with massacres and battles occurring. Virginia Military District Following the American Revolution , the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District under the control of the United States . Colonialists from the East Coast moved in, but rather than finding an empty frontier , they encountered people of the Miami , Delaware , Wyandot , Shawnee , and Mingo nations, as well as European traders.

Columbus, OH City Statistics: