Columbus is home to Wisconsin's only Louis Sullivan "jewel box"--the Farmers & Merchants Union Bank. It was a fair drive from my hometown when I visited over the summer (2.5 hours one way), and given I spent only an hour there, I was questioning my life choices a bit afterwards. However, the town still has pretty interesting architecture, and in my mind, it was worth the trip.
Columbus, the "Red Bud City," is a city largely in Columbia County in south central Wisconsin. It has a population of about 5,500 people as of 2020.
Columbus' earliest European settlers were Elbert Dickason and Lewis Ludington, both of whom have streets named after them downtown. Dickason built a log cabin on the Crawfish River and Ludington's land purchased were registered by Green Bay in 1839, marking the establishment of Columbus as a settlement. Dickason named the town after Christopher Columbus. It was named the county seat of Columbia County in 1847, but this was quickly shifted to Portage in 1851, which remains the county seat today.
Columbus became more established in the 1850s with incoming residents and farmers. In 1857, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) expanded to Columbus, and the town became a shipping hub. It was incorporated as a village in 1864 and as a city in 1874. Many of the downtown's commercial buildings date between the 1860s to the turn of the 20th century.
Columbus is probably best known for the Farmers & Merchants Union Bank, a National Historic Landmark designed by Louis Sullivan. However, it also features a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian house and several buildings listed on the NRHP.
A ★ denotes a building with its own article.