Columbia is a former California Gold Rush boom town that is located on as a state-preserved historic park and a National Historic Landmark that preserves the original, gold-rush-town flavor of the town, once dubbed the "Gem of the Southern Mines." Founded in 1850 by Mexican gold miners, it is in Tuolumne County, California, United States. Although only about 2,000 people now live in this region near Sonora, California, at its height it was California's second-largest city. It was even considered briefly as a site for the state capitol of California. In 1854 the bulk of the town burned down and was re-built with brick and iron structures that survive to this day. Columbia's main street, part of the Columbia State Historic Park, is closed to automobile traffic but is open to horses, carriages, bicycles and pedestrians.