Lewis Ludington (June 25, 1786 – September 3, 1857) was a real estate developer and the founder of Columbus, Wisconsin.He was an American businessman of the nineteenth century that had general merchandising stores in Milwaukee and New York state for decades. Ludington was a lumber baron and operated lumber mills and boat docks in Wisconsin to transport his manufactured lumber to New York to be used for construction. He never lived in Wisconsin, but contributed much to its economy.