Q 01/05

Columbus was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Olentangy River and which other river?

A) Cuyahoga

B) Miami

C) Muskingum

D) Scioto

Answer · why

D) Scioto

The site was dense forest used only as a hunting ground; the state chose it for its central location after the capital had bounced between Chillicothe...

Q 02/05

Lucas Sullivant's 1797 settlement, the first in what is now Columbus, was named after which American?

A) George Washington

B) Thomas Jefferson

C) John Adams

D) Benjamin Franklin

Answer · why

D) Benjamin Franklin

Franklinton sat on the west bank of the forks; Columbus annexed it in 1837 and it was devastated by the Great Flood of 1913.

Q 03/05

In which year did Columbus officially become the capital of Ohio?

A) 1812

B) 1816

C) 1834

D) 1857

Answer · why

B) 1816

It was planned as the capital from the start; the city was not chartered until 1834, when it had about 3,500 people.

Q 04/05

With a 2020 census population of 905,748, Columbus ranked where among US cities?

A) 14th

B) 19th

C) 24th

D) 29th

Answer · why

A) 14th

That also makes it the second-biggest city in the Midwest after Chicago and the third-largest state capital after Phoenix and Austin.

Q 05/05

Which mayor's water-for-annexation tactic made Columbus the largest Ohio city by land area?

A) Michael Coleman

B) Buck Rinehart

C) Andrew Ginther

D) Jim Rhodes

Answer · why

D) Jim Rhodes

Rhodes later served four terms as governor; the strategy is why Columbus overtook Cleveland in population by the early 1990s.