Initially one of Ohio's largest townships by area at its inception in 1791,[6] it gradually shrank to one of the smallest by the early 1950s due to annexations by the City of Cincinnati, Norwood, Silverton, the Villages of Fairfax, Indian Hill, Mariemont and others.

The three townships included virtually all the white residents of the Symmes Purchase; in the midst of the Northwest Indian War, battles often small-scale, tit-for-tat series of armed skirmishes that pitted Indigenous Native American tribes against white settlers and the United States military continued until the Treaty of Greenville.

[2] In 1861, the United States Army built Camp Dennison on 500 acres (200 ha) in the northeastern corner of the township.

[12] In 1876, Madisonville became the first village to incorporate within the township, followed by Norwood in 1881, Pleasant Ridge in 1891, and Terrace Park in 1893.

The township's population grew further as the Cincinnati Street Railway extended lines further into the suburbs between 1890 and 1910.

The completion of Columbia Parkway in 1938 caused Cincinnati to annex surrounding unincorporated land, leading Indian Hill and Mariemont to incorporate as villages in 1941, followed by Fairfax in 1951.

[12][7] One exception was Fairfax, which only withdrew on January 1, 2010, due in part to city residents' low tax contribution compared to their influence on township elections.

[13][14] Columbia Township invested $75,000 through its partnership to support Mariemont's development of the next segment of the Murray Path extension, a rail trail.[when?]

In 2021 the path was extended to Columbia's Plainville Business District and historic Madison Place neighborhood.

The means of transportation as follows: Drive Alone – 69.1%, Carpool – 7.7%, Public Transportation – 1.1%, Walked – 3.0%, Bicycle – 0.6%, Taxi/Motorcycle – 3.4% and work from home, 15.2% [4] Health - The percentage of people without Health Care Coverage in the township 6.8%, and the disabled population was 11.4%[4] Families & Living Arrangements - There were 1,913 households, of which 20.1% had children under 18.