I found a blurb that tells a bit about the significance of the Columbia:

Fishermen have always been proud of the superiority of their craft. Since the middle of the 19th century, owners of fishing schooners have engaged in keen rivalry to prove their mettle by racing for the Thomas Lipton trophy. Over the years, this contest turned into a Canadian-American rivalry.

The Bluenose, of Halifax, carried a sailors' nickname for the men and boats hailing from Nova Scotia. She was the outstanding champion on the Canadian side.

In 1923, the Bluenose raced with the Columbia, a fishing schooner out of Gloucester, Mass. The contest ended in a dispute because the Canadian schooner finished first, but was disqualified for fouling the Columbia and then for cutting inside a buoy. The Columbia was awarded the victory. The Bluenose came back to demonstrate her prowess in subsequent years and became the pride of all Canadians.

The schooner Bluenose was built in Nova Scotia in 1921 to fish the rough waters off the coast of Newfoundland. A salt banker type, she stayed out until her holds were full of fish, using salt to preserve her catch. During prohibition, she was used as a rum runner. The Bluenose was lost off Haiti in 1946.

The Bluenose, of course, is the famous schooner depicted on the back of the Canadian dime. It was built in a shipyard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, one of the more scenic harbors in this world. I got a real thrill when I was walking the docks of Lunenburg and found the Bluenose II, which is almost an exact replica of the original ship (but the replica is motorized). A week later, I visited the Maine Maritime Museum at Bath and found the Sherman Zwicker, a motorized schooner built in the same Lunenburg shipyard - and the Zwicker looked almost exactly like the Bluenose. A couple days later, I saw another almost-identical schooner in the harbor at New Bedford, Masssachusetts - it was the Ernestina, which was built in Gloucester, Massachusetts. I'm wondering - are there any surviving schooners that look like the Columbia? Where and when was the Columbia built, and what else is know of its history?
Those Grand Banks schooners fascinate me. The paintings of Winslow Homer tell their story so well.
I've been able to visit only one schooner here on the West Coast - that's the lumber schooner C.A. Thayer at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. I understand there are a few others, but the Pacific schooners don't have the graceful design of the Grand Banks schooners. I'd swear those Grand Banks schooners are the most beautiful ships ever built.
-Joe Offer-