Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, Columbus was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The National Road reached Columbus from Baltimore in 1831 facilitated a population boom. A wave of immigrants from Europe resulted in the establishment of two ethnic enclaves on the outskirts of the city. A significant Irish population settled in the north along Naghten Street, while the Germans took advantage of the cheap land to the south, creating a community that came to be known as the Das Alte Südende (The Old South End), now known as German Village.
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