Columbia was first incorporated in 1859 as a small farming settlement, but had been occupied by various Native American cultures for 12,000 years.

The earliest group encountered by European settlers were members of what became the Illinois Confederation, though they had moved to the area from the Great Lakes region only a few centuries before.

Running in a diagonal line just northeast of Columbia is the border of St. Clair County, beyond which lies Dupo to the north and Millstadt to the east.

Waterloo and Columbia are expected to grow right up to the borders of the other, in effect extending St. Louis's urban sprawl from South St. Louis County across the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into the heart of the formerly rural Monroe County[citation needed].

It connects Columbia with Dupo and Cahokia in the northwest and Waterloo and Red Bud from the southeast.

A public bus service, provided by MetroBus, arrives in the morning and evening in Columbia and Waterloo and transports people to the MetroLink station in East St. Louis.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool winters.

"Combined History of Randolph, Monroe and Perry Counties, Illinois: With Illustrations Descriptive of Their Scenery and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers."