Columbia County, Wisconsin

Founding: 1846
Parent county: Portage
Namesake: A reference to Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer
Seat: Wyocena (1847); Columbus (1848–1851); Portage (1851–)
Land area: 766 square miles
Population (2020): 58,490
Population (historic): 9,565 (1850); 28,802 (1870); 28,350 (1890); 31,129 (1910); 30,503 (1930)
Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1870; 1880–1910; 1920–2020
Subdivisions: Four cities; ten villages; one CDP; 21 towns
National Register listings: 55
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 6,173 (23.2%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 75.1%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 10.9%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 7.3%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 4.1%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,936
Average outbuilding value (1930): $2,523

Average farmhouse size (1940): 7.4 rooms

Number of farms (1920): 3,320
Average farm size (1920): 90.9 acres
Sources of settlement: Germany, New York, England, Ireland, and Norway
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Portage

 
Namesake: A portage between the Fox River and Wisconsin River
Founding: 1828 (founding as Fort Winnebago); 1833 (post office); 1849 (platting); 1854 (incorporation)
Population (2020): 10,581
Population (historic): 603 (1850); 3,945 (1870); 5,143 (1890); 5,440 (1910); 6,308 (1930)
Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1900; 1910–2020
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,107 (25.8%)
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Outstanding Buildings

1. *William Currie Farm (1883). 9250 Currie Road. Arlington. Italianate.
2. *Andrew Mair Farm (c. 1875). 1782 Road Q. Arlington. Italianate.
3. *George Robinson House (c. 1860). 959 Duborg Road. Columbus. Italianate.
4. *Henry Morse Farm (c. 1870). 1700 Farnham Street. Columbus. Gothic Revival.
5. *John Davis House (c. 1865). 1514 Cemetery Road. Courtland. Italianate.
6. *Farm (c. 1905). 8082 North Street. Dekorra. Queen Anne/Classical Revival.
7. *Indian Agency House / John Kinzie House (1832). 1490 Agency House Road. Fort Winnebago.
8. *Fayette Foster Farm (c. 1905). 1901 State Route 16. Fountain Prairie. Queen Anne/Classical Revival.
9. *Ira Ford Farm (c. 1875). 1597 Road A. Hampden. Italianate.
10. *Job Mills Farm (c. 1875). 10486 State Route 60. Lodi. Gothic Revival.
11. *Joel Scovell Farm (c. 1875). 6406 Road CS. Lowville. Italianate.
12. *Joseph Holmes Farm (c. 1860). 1042 State Route 33. Randolph. Italianate. Razed.
13. *Alonzo Smith House (1876). 8239 State Route 73. Randolph. Italianate.
14. *David Langdon Farm (1867). 8909 Fenske Road. Scott. Gothic Revival.
15. *Jesse Van Ness Farm (c. 1865). 12266 Road VJ. West Point. Gothic Revival.