The first settlement in Columbus was founded by Englishman James Kilbourne. It became one of the most important trading posts along the Scioto River because it had a strategic location at the junction where water routes from Pennsylvania and New York City meet with those coming south down the Ohio river valley.
First settled in 1797, it would be incorporated as part of Franklin County when that county was created on March 30th 1803. The city quickly grew after becoming state capital for Ohio on February 14th 1816.
One year later Alexander Ralston surveyed and laid out plans for its future development which included an ambitious system of parks designed to work together with streets to create new neighborhoods following today’s grid plan design principles.
