Great Trail Mare, Family Horse, Show

Columbia Township is part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, lands ceded in 1786 by Connecticut after the American Revolution. In 1805, two years after Ohio became a state, the federal government finalized treaties with local American Indians. The reserve was surveyed and parcelled into rough 5-mile (8.0 km)-square blocks (smaller than the typical 6-mile (9.7 km)-square townships in the U.S.). The Bronson and Hoadley families of Waterbury, Connecticut pooled together $20,087 to purchase a township. On April 4, 1807, they drew Township 5 N, Range 15 W from a random selection of townships in the reserve, purchasing the land site-unseen.