Columbia is a compact riverside town that seems to be made entirely of brick. It has a number of handsome Victorian houses. The town dates back to 1726, when it became known as "the Gateway to the West." In the years before the civil war it became known as an important station along the Underground Railroad. The name Underground Railroad may have derived from an incident in Columbia when slave hunters angered by their inability to find any fugitives said, "There must be an underground railroad somewhere."