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Columbus, Wisconsin
A quintessential Midwestern small town
Columbus is a small city of about 5,500 residents located less than 30 miles northeast of Madison. It sits in the southeastern corner of Columbia County, just across the northern border of Dane County. Though small, Columbus offers many amenities and is a perfect place to live for those who want access to a larger metropolitan area but prefer a quintessential small-town environment.
If you’re into architecture, then Columbus is the city for you! The city’s heyday occurred around the turn of the 20th century and as a result, more than 200 homes in the city are over a century old. Many of Columbus’s most successful people at that time poured their wealth into their homes. Residents take a lot of pride in these ornate structures and you can hardly walk a city block without seeing a Victorian Italianate or Queen Anne or other turn-of-the-century style of home. Because of its amazing architecture and quintessential small-town feel, Columbus was one of the sites for the 2009 filming of Public Enemies, set in the Great Depression era and starring Johnny Depp.
Big-city destinations are easy to get to from Columbus. Madison and its airport are a half-hour down US-151. The real gem is that Columbus has its own Amtrak station! For less than $30 each way, you can hop one of two daily trains to either Chicago (in 3 hours) or Minneapolis/St. Paul (in 5 hours). If you wanted, you could even get a sleeper compartment and take the Empire Builder train all the way to Seattle. What’s more, the Tremont is only two blocks from the station.
Columbus offers a wide array of food options, both fast-food and sit-down restaurants. Some of our favorites include Tequilas and Magnolia’s (Mexican), Day One Pizza, Hachi Hachi (Japanese), and The Coffee Garage (a café with breakfast/lunch food). That’s not an exhaustive list by any means. We have the usual array of fast-food favorites in town, as well, including Culver’s.
As a final pitch for our town, consider these other amenities. There are two clinics for primary care, plus two pharmacies, in addition to a full hospital with ER. We also have a great K-12 school system (go Cardinals!). Not only that, but we have a well-appointed public library, several parks, and even a public outdoor pool with splash pad that is open in the summer. We have a grocery store in town, a hardware store, multiple auto shops, and two gyms. In short, Columbus has darn near everything and if it’s not here, it’s within a half-hour drive.