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Columbia
Missouri, United States
Columbia, city, seat of Boone county, near the Missouri River, central Missouri, U.S., midway between St. Louis and Kansas City. It was originally established (1819) as Smithton, but an inadequate water supply forced its move in 1821, when it was laid out and renamed Columbia. The rerouting of Boone’s Lick Trail (1822) stimulated its growth. In 1839 the town’s residents pledged $117,900 for the location in their city of a state university (now the University of Missouri), the first west of the Mississippi River. Stephens College for women was founded in the town in 1833, and Columbia College in 1851. ...(100 of 190 words)