Our City

Columbus is the second largest city and county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, located 15 miles south-southwest of Pittsburg, Kansas.

The first settlement was made at Columbus in 1868. The first post office was established in 1869. Columbus was a railroad junction for the Saint Louis and San Francisco, and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas railroads.

The City was named Columbus by A.L. Peters, one of the European-American founders, for his hometown of Columbus, Ohio; the name thus indirectly honors Christopher Columbus, the explorer. Coal, lead and zinc were mined in the region.

Columbus had a considerable trade in agricultural products, and its businesses included machine shops, grain elevators, flour mills, a cigar factory, bottle works (soft drinks), a canning factory, and an extensive brick-making plant.

As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,312.