Houses and 65 Columbia families that built them
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"It was May 28, 1821, and the public had their first opportunity to buy building lots in Columbia. The plan of the new central Missouri town had been laid out earlier in the spring of the same year. Some months before, approximately one half mile west of the present center of town, another site had been hurriedly chosen and established as the county seat for the newly formed Boone County, but it was soon discovered that no adequate or convenient water supply was available. There had been a few log cabins built at the first site and these were moved to the "new" Columbia, where they were joined by other small, one story, mud-daubed log buildings. "They were situated in a 'clearing' in the midst of stumps and brush, while all around stretched a dense and tractless wilderness," but, in three years, by 1824, Columbia had grown "to an emporium of refinement, enterprise and trade. By 1830, the population had grown to near 60 people and three years later the town was linked to St. Louis and Fayette by a semi-weekly line of mail coaches. In 1840, when the corner stone of the State University was laid, the population had mushroomed to almost 1000, and it was then boasted that "streets are broad and shady, and many of them well paved, with more miles of granitoid, brick and plank sidewalks than any town of its population in Missouri." By 1919, the inhabitants had increased to 12,500 and the town discovered that along with the pleasant at tributes of the city, there had grown slum conditions for some Negro and white citizens as well. Every community has its own particular reason for existing. It may be strategically located in relation to a river, harbor, or other transportation route. It may be near the source of a particular raw material or rich farm land. Some communities exist primarily because of their climate, but Columbia's main purpose is education and this was very early to supercede in importance the founding purpose, that of being the County seat. Today, with a population estimated to be over 40,000 including approximately 15,000 college students, higher education is truly Columbia's business. "Universities very frequently form centers of order and beauty in otherwise undistinguished small communities," and this is nearly true in Columbia. With population predicted by planning engineers to double in the next 20 years, the subject of housing will become even more important and pressing than it has been in the past. It is with this in mind that one segment of the house buying public was chosen for study in this thesis."--Introduction.
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