Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. Columbus is home to the world’s largest private research and development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute; Chemical Abstracts Service, the world’s largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets, the world’s largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University, one of the largest college campuses in the United States.

LDS Population

LDS Members make up 0.73% of the population of Columbus. The state of Ohio has 58,436 members in 11 stakes, 96 wards and 32 branches, 2 missions, and 1 temple.

LDS History

In December 1830, Joseph Smith received a revelation instructing the Church to gather in Ohio (D&C 37). He traveled to Kirtland in February where he and his wife Emma lived for a time with Newel K. Whitney. Kirtland served as Church headquarters from 1831 to 1838. The first stake of the Church was created there in 1834. Sixty-five of the revelations published in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in Ohio. The growing number of Latter-day Saints, especially in Ohio and Missouri, also led to important organizational developments in the Church. The First Presidency was organized in Kirtland in March 1832, followed by the Kirtland High Council, February 1834; the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, February 1835; and the First Council of the Seventy, also in February 1835.