Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissioning numerous works back the mid-20th century; the annual program Exhibit Columbus celebrates this legacy. Located not quite 40 mi (64 km) south of Indianapolis, on the east fork of the White River, it is the state’s 20th-largest city. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses whatever of Bartholomew County. Columbus is the birthplace of former Indiana Governor and former Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence.

Columbus is the headquarters of the engine company Cummins, Inc. in 2004 the city was named as one of “The Ten Most Playful Towns” by Nick Jr. Family Magazine. In the July 2005 edition of GQ magazine, Columbus was named as one of the “62 Reasons to Love Your Country”. Columbus won the national contest “America in Bloom” in 2006, and in late 2008, National Geographic Traveler ranked Columbus 11th upon its historic destinations list , describing the city as “authentic, unique, and unspoiled.”

The land developed as Columbus was bought by General John Tipton and Luke Bonesteel in 1820. Tipton built a log cabin upon Mount Tipton, a little hill overlooking White River and the surrounding flat, heavily forested and swampy valley. It held wetlands of the river. The town was first known as Tiptona, named in award of Tipton. The town’s pronounce was changed to Columbus upon March 20, 1821. Many people allow Tipton was mishap by the name change, but no evidence exists to prove this. Nonetheless, he settled to depart the newly founded town and did not return.

Tipton was unconventional appointed as the highway bureaucrat for the State of Indiana and was assigned to building a highway from Indianapolis, Indiana to Louisville, Kentucky. When the road approached Columbus, Tipton build up the first bypass road ever built; it detoured south with insinuation to the west side of Columbus en route to Seymour.