Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 as a small colony to facilitate trade and travel across the Ob River in western Siberia, and over the next 100 years it grew into a modern and busy city called Novo-Nikolaevsk with a large central trade square importing goods from other countries. Now 100 years later, Novosibirsk is a large industrial city with factories, trade centers, and historical sites, having grown enormously from its origins as a small colony established to build a bridge over the Ob River.