Columbia Public Schools

The Columbia Agriculture Park is a public park in Columbia, Missouri, focusing on food production and distribution. It is home to the Columbia Farmers Market, and contains a pavilion with space for 98 vendors. The park opened in 2019 and by 2021 will include an interactive urban farm, demonstration gardens and orchards, a commercial kitchen, event space, a recreational trail, amphitheater, outdoor classroom, and playground. It will also house the offices of the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and a resource center. The park was created by a public-private partnership between Columbia Parks and Recreation, the Columbia Farmers Market, the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, and Sustainable Farms and Communities. It is the first of its kind in Missouri.

Missouri Township is one of ten townships in Boone County, Missouri, USA. As of the 2012, its population was 63,334. The township is western half of the City of Columbia making it the most populous township in Boone County.

Shelter Insurance Company is a mutual insurance company which focuses on auto, property, business, and life Insurance. It operates in fifteen U.S. states and the headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri. Shelter was founded in 1946 as the insurance subsidiary of the Missouri Farmers Association (the same company as MFA Incorporated), and was called MFA Mutual Insurance Company. The Shelter name came from the company's slogan, "M.F.A. is your Shield of Shelter". In 1981, the name was changed to Shelter Insurance Companies. The company's headquarters remained in Columbia. The Shelter Insurance Gardens are located at the company headquarters in Columbia.

The Columbia Mall is a shopping mall located in Columbia, Missouri. It was built in 1985 and is the largest mall in its area. The mall's anchor stores are Target, JCPenney, Level Up Entertainment, two Dillard's stores, and Barnes & Noble.

The Pierce Pennant Motor Hotel, also known as the Candle Light Lodge, is a historic hotel complex that is located on what once was U.S. Route 40, which is now known as Business Loop 70 West in Columbia, Missouri. The hotel complex was constructed in 1929 and is in the Colonial Revival style. The hotel was also a gas station and garage, and was owned by Pierce Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil. Initially the hotel and garage complex was to be one of several along U.S. Hwy 40, each to be spaced about 150 miles apart from New York to San Francisco. Senator Harry S. Truman was staying at the hotel when he learned of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, heralding the United States entry in World War II.During World War II the building was used by Stephens College to train women aviators. In 1959, the complex was Candle Light Lodge and converted to senior citizen housing. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Columbia Cosmopolitan Recreation Area, commonly referred to as Cosmo Park, is a city park in Columbia, Missouri. At 533 acres (2.16 km2), it is the largest park in Columbia. It is also the location of the annual Show-Me State Games.

Columbia Independent School (CIS) is a private school and a prep school in Columbia, Missouri, that serves almost 400 students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school's curriculum emphasizes global perspectives.

Kiwanis Park is a public park in Columbia, Missouri.

Heritage Academy is a private, co-educational Christian school in Columbia, Missouri, USA, which employs the University-Model approach to education and is certified by the National Association of University-Model Schools (NAUMS). This approach seeks to combine the strengths of the home with professional instruction. It also provides a larger community for homeschooled students that would be unavailable to them a purely homeschooling environment. Students at Heritage Academy attend classes on campus from one to three days each week. On the other days, they complete assignments under the supervision of a parent or parents.

The John N. and Elizabeth Taylor House (more commonly just Taylor House) is a historic home in Columbia, Missouri which has been restored and once operated as a bed and breakfast. The house was constructed in 1909 and is a 2+1⁄2-story, Colonial Revival style frame dwelling. It features a wide front porch and side porte cochere. The home was featured on HGTV special called "If walls could talk."It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. In 2010 the house became a contributing property of the newly formed West Broadway Historic District.

The West Broadway Historic District in Columbia, Missouri is composed of 21 residential properties located facing Broadway on a plateau west of downtown. The district contains some of the largest and best preserved historic homes in Columbia.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and includes the previously listed John N. and Elizabeth Taylor House.

The Smithton Land Company was a group of American pioneers who in 1818 established the frontier village of Smithton, Missouri in the Boonslick region of Missouri, then the Missouri Territory. In 1821 the settlement was renamed Columbia, Missouri and relocated slightly East of its original location. Smithton was the first county seat of Boone County. The company and town were named after Thomas Adams Smith, the receiver of the land office in Franklin, Missouri.Smithton’s origin begins with the settlement of American pioneers from Kentucky and Virginia in an early 1800s region known as the Boonslick. Before 1815 settlement in the region was confined to small log forts because of the threat of Native American attack during the War of 1812. When the war ended settlers came on foot, horseback, and wagon, often moving entire households along the Boone's Lick Road and often bringing enslaved African Americans. By 1818 it was clear that the increased population would necessitate a new county be created from territorial Howard County. The Mouniteau Creek on the west and Cedar Creek on the east were obvious natural boundaries.Believing it was only a matter of time before a county seat was chosen, the Smithton Land Company was formed to purchase over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) to established the village of Smithton near the present-day intersection of Walnut and Garth. In 1819 Smithton was a small cluster of log cabins in an ancient forest of oak and hickory; chief among them was the cabin of Richard Gentry, a trustee of the Smithton Company who would become first mayor of Columbia. In 1820 Boone County was formed and named after the recently deceased explorer Daniel Boone. The Missouri Legislature appointed John Gray, Jefferson Fulcher, Absalom Hicks, Lawrence Bass, and David Jackson as commissioners to select and establish a permanent county seat. Smithton never had more than twenty people, and it was quickly realized that well digging was difficult because of the bedrock. Springs were discovered across the Flat Branch Creek, so in the Spring of 1821 Columbia was laid off and the inhabitants of Smithton moved their cabins to the new town. The first house in Columbia was built by Thomas Duly in 1820 at what would become Fifth and Broadway. They renamed the settlement Columbia—a historical name for the United States. Columbia's permanence was ensured when it was chosen as county seat in 1821 and the Boone's Lick Road was rerouted down Broadway.