of the conflict. In the 1880 census, the city's population was 51,647.

During the twentieth century, Columbus continued to grow and prosper. Due to lighted arches that spanned over the city's major north-south thoroughfare, High Street, Columbus earned the reputation of being the most "brilliantly illuminated city in the country." Most of these arches disappeared by mid century, but in 2002, the city began to construct new ones to celebrate Columbus' past. The Ohio State University, which had approximately one thousand students in 1900, was the second largest institution of higher education in the United States in 2000, boasting an enrollment of 47,000 students. Numerous other colleges existed in the city in 2015, including Franklin University, Ohio Dominican College, Columbus State University, and the Columbus College of Art &Design. The city's suburbs also boast several other institutions of higher education.

Thought of at one time to be an important industrial center, Columbus has changed through the 1900s as the United States economy changed. As of 2015, Nationwide Insurance, Chase Bank, The Limited, and numerous other prominent businesses employed the city's residents. The city has the largest population in Ohio, numbering 790,389 people in 2010. The city also experienced tremendous territorial growth as it annexed surrounding land and communities beginning in the 1950s. In 1950, Columbus consisted of just less than forty square miles of land. In 2000, the city's borders encompassed more than two hundred square miles of land.

Columbus also has a booming cultural life. The Columbus Museum of Art, the Ohio Historical Society, and the Center