Maury County · Middle Tennessee
Living in Columbia
Columbia is the seat of Maury County, about forty miles south of downtown Nashville on the Duck River, and it is the antebellum county seat that spent a long time overlooked and is not overlooked anymore. It grew from 33,055 people in 2000 to 41,690 at the 2020 census, and the growth pressure from Spring Hill and the GM complex arrives here next.
- County
- Maury
- Distance to downtown Nashville
- ~40 miles
- County property tax
- $1.369 per $100, certified for 2026-27 after reappraisal
- Character
- Historic county seat on the Duck River with a working downtown square
What’s actually there
- A downtown square listed on the National Register in 1984 as the Columbia Commercial Historic District, with Federal, Victorian and mid-19th century architecture
- The James K. Polk Home and Museum at 319 West 7th Street, the only surviving private residence of the eleventh president
- Mule Day every spring at Maury County Park, historically drawing crowds in the hundreds of thousands
- The Duck River running through town, with Riverwalk Park at 102 Riverside Drive
- Maury Regional Medical Center at 1224 Trotwood Avenue, a genuine regional hospital rather than a clinic
- Columbia State Community College at 1665 Hampshire Pike
- A Columbia Arts District adjacent to the square, with First Fridays programming
The housing stock
A genuinely wide range, which is the appeal. Antebellum and Victorian housing near the square and in the historic districts, mid-century neighborhoods like Knob Creek outward, 1990s and 2000s subdivisions around Maury County Park, and newer construction on the north side toward Spring Hill. Zillow put the typical Columbia home value at $376,699 as of July 31, 2026, up about 1 percent year over year, which is a town-wide index and does not describe the historic housing on its own.
Getting around
About forty miles to downtown Nashville, roughly fifty minutes to an hour and ten depending on the day, by US-31 to I-65 or straight up the interstate from the Spring Hill interchanges. TDOT ran a corridor study on I-65 from Nashville to Maury County with public input open through September 2026, which tells you the state agrees the corridor is under strain.
Things to do in Columbia
Places worth knowing before you decide whether you want to live here.
James K. Polk Home and Museum
319 West 7th Street. Open Monday to Saturday 9 to 5 and Sunday 1 to 5.
Mule Day
The spring festival at Maury County Park, with the wagon train ahead of the main festival weekend. Historically over 200,000 attendees.
Riverwalk Park
102 Riverside Drive, with trails along the Duck River, a splash pad and the farmers market.
Maury Regional Medical Center
1224 Trotwood Avenue.
Columbia State Community College
Main campus at 1665 Hampshire Pike.
Checked against each business as of August 17, 2026. Nashville loses restaurants faster than most cities, so if something here has closed since, tell me and I’ll get it corrected.
Subdivisions and named developments in Columbia
Once you are actually looking, you stop searching by city and start searching by subdivision. These are the names that come up, and what is true about each one that will still be true in three years. No prices, no dues, no days on market, because those change and this page would go stale telling you about them.
McClure Farms
The flagship of the US 31 growth corridor, approved as a planned unit development rather than a plain subdivision.
- Approved as a final PUD master plan for 431 units at 2504 through 2524 Nashville Highway, which is the US 31 corridor through Columbia.
- Phase 1 came through as a preliminary plat of 70 lots. About 194 parcels currently carry a McClure Farms legal description across Phases 1A, 1B and 2.
- A planned unit development is negotiated site by site, so what is permitted here is written into that approved plan rather than into a standard zoning district.
- There is a townhome component in addition to the single family lots.
Bear Springs
On the Bear Creek Pike side, where most of Columbia’s recent approvals have landed.
- Preliminary plat approved for Phases 1A through 1C, 65 lots, off Bear Creek Pike at Rock Springs Road.
- About 98 parcels currently carry a Bear Springs legal description across Phases 1A and 1B.
- Bear Creek Pike is the corridor to watch in Columbia. A separate 366 acre annexation and rezoning was approved on that road, and a 428 lot subdivision was filed off it.
- Still building. The recorded parcel count is behind the approved lot count, which is normal here and is worth knowing when you compare listings.
The Bear Creek subdivisions
Three names, one corridor, and buyers cross-shop them constantly.
- About 149 parcels across Bear Creek Overlook Phases 1 through 3, Bear Creek Glen Phases 1 and 2, and Bear Creek Park Phases 1A through 1C.
- Separately, Highlands at Bear Creek runs about 116 parcels across its own phase and section plats.
- So the Bear Creek name covers roughly 265 parcels across two entirely separate developments with similar names. The word after Bear Creek is what tells them apart.
- All of it sits on the Bear Creek Pike corridor rather than in old Columbia.
Carter’s Station
Not one subdivision. An umbrella name covering several builder-branded neighborhoods, and the county records lag badly behind it.
- Summit at Carter’s Station Phase 1 recorded a final plat of 58 lots off Freehand Road. Homestead at Carter’s Station 5.2B recorded a final plat of 38 lots off Chaplins Trace. Ridge at Carters Station 1B recorded its own final plat.
- County parcel records show only about 42 parcels under the Carter’s Station name, against 96 lots already recorded in approved final plats.
- That gap is the useful fact. The mapping data is stale, so a search that relies on it will undercount this area badly.
- Treat Carter’s Station as an area with several separately branded neighborhoods inside it rather than as a single plat.
Graymere
The established side of Columbia, and the name people mean when they say the older part of town.
- About 120 parcels across Graymere, Graymere Sections 1, 2 and 3, Graymere Manor, Graymere Manors and Graymere Park.
- Six separate recorded names under one word, which is why a search for Graymere returns inconsistent results depending on which spelling a listing used.
- Build era and developer are not documented in any source I could verify, and I am not going to estimate them for you.
- This is resale rather than new construction, unlike everything on the Bear Creek Pike side.
West Sixth Street and Mayes Place Historic District
The residential historic district, and the one people actually search for by name.
- Listed on the National Register on February 25, 1978.
- Fifty-five buildings and sites, of which 49 are contributing.
- Runs from the 100 block of West Sixth Street west for four blocks, with Mayes Place a dead end street entering at the 300 block.
- Housing spans 1820 to 1930: antebellum Greek Revival and Federal, then late Victorian frame houses with elaborate detail, then 1920s bungalows. That range inside four blocks is unusual.
Columbia West End Historic District
The second residential district, nine blocks along West Seventh Street.
- Listed on the National Register on March 13, 1986.
- About 40 acres holding 85 primarily residential resources, of which 70 are contributing.
- Runs along the north side of West Seventh Street between Frierson Street and Trotwood Avenue, then both sides of West Seventh between Trotwood and the railroad.
- Columbia also has a separately listed Commercial Historic District downtown, so ask which district a listing means before assuming it is residential.
Schools
Maury County Public Schools
Look up an address with the district →
Served by Maury County Public Schools, assigned by address. Battle Creek High School opened in August 2024 to relieve crowding at the other high schools, so zoning in the northern part of the county has moved recently. Confirm the current assignment for the specific address with the district rather than relying on a listing.
I publish district and school zoning as published fact and nothing more. No ratings, no rankings, no comparisons. School zones are set by the district, assigned by address rather than by subdivision or city name, and they change. Confirm any address with the district itself, and evaluate the schools yourself against what matters to your family.
What a buyer needs to know here
Two numbers and one river. The numbers first. Maury County certified its rate at $1.369 per $100 of assessed value for 2026-27, down about 28 percent from $1.91, because the reappraisal raised values across the county and the certified rate is set to keep revenue roughly neutral. A big rate cut alongside a big value increase does not automatically mean your bill falls, so pull the new assessment on the parcel rather than celebrating the rate. The city passed its budget without a property tax increase, but I could not get the current city rate from an official source, so we confirm it before you budget. The second number is water: Columbia Power and Water approved rate increases of up to 20 percent a year for five years to fund a roughly $520 million new Duck River intake and treatment plant, with construction running from 2026 to 2029. That is a real line item in your monthly cost and almost nobody factors it in. And the river itself is the third thing. The Duck River hit a thirty-year high in February 2019 with an evacuation advisory in the Riverside area, and there is an active legislative fight over Duck River water supply and whether to rebuild the Columbia Dam. Check the flood zone on the specific parcel through FEMA’s map service and Maury County’s own GIS before contingencies come off.
Common questions
Why are people looking at Columbia now?
Price and position. It is a real county seat with a hospital, a community college and a restored downtown square, at a typical home value around $376,000 in mid-2026 while Williamson County runs several times that. It also sits directly downstream of the growth in Spring Hill and the GM complex, which is about twelve miles north. Buy it because you want a town with its own center, not only because it is cheaper than Franklin.
What are property taxes in Columbia?
Maury County certified $1.369 per $100 of assessed value for 2026-27, down from $1.91, following the reappraisal. The city adds its own rate and passed its budget without an increase, but I could not confirm the current city figure from an official source, so we get it in writing before you run your payment. And remember the rate fell because values rose, so the parcel’s new assessment is the number that decides your bill.
Should I worry about the Duck River?
Respect it rather than worry about it. The river hit a thirty-year high in February 2019 and prompted an evacuation advisory along Riverside, and there is an ongoing legislative fight about water supply and whether to rebuild the Columbia Dam. Separately, the utility is funding a roughly $520 million new intake and treatment plant with multi-year rate increases, so your water bill is going up regardless of where you buy in town. Flood risk is a parcel question and we check it on FEMA’s map service and the county GIS.
What is Mule Day?
Columbia’s spring festival at Maury County Park, built around a mule and wagon tradition going back generations, with a wagon train ahead of the main weekend. It has historically drawn crowds in the hundreds of thousands to a city of about 42,000. If you buy near the park or the parade route, plan around it once a year the way you would plan around a stadium.
Thinking about Columbia?
What are some of your must haves to make it a perfect home for you in this neighborhood?