Columbiana, originally called Columbia, was chosen as the county seat of Shelby County in 1826 over Calera and Montevallo. Afterward, residents celebrated by drilling holes in a large pine tree, packing it with gunpowder, and blowing it up so loudly that the sound could be heard for miles. Later that year, the courthouse was moved to an old school building in Columbiana. On January 13, 1832, an act of the Alabama Legislature officially changed the name of Shelby’s county seat to Columbiana. Columbiana was incorporated on December 5, 1837, with corporate limits extending one-quarter mile in each direction from the public square. In 1854, a larger courthouse was planned for the south end of Silk Stocking Road, now Main Street, and from 1854 to 1908 several additions and changes were made to the courthouse. The move of the courthouse to Columbiana was controversial in 1826, and many efforts were later made to relocate the county seat. In 1901, the Alabama Constitutional Convention addressed the issue by adding Section 41 to the new state constitution, prohibiting the removal of the Shelby County seat from Columbiana unless approved by a vote of the people, making Shelby County the only county in Alabama with that designation. In 1905, construction began two blocks north of the existing courthouse on a new marble courthouse costing $300,000. Completed in 1908, the new courthouse has been renovated and enlarged several times and has served Shelby County for more than 100 years, while the old courthouse is now home to the Shelby County Museum and Archives.