History · Columbia
Columbia’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Columbia. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
1787established
4old images & papers
151historic places
0recent photos
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In May 1540, a Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto traversed what is now Columbia while exploring the interior of the southeastern United States. The expedition produced the earliest surviving written account of the area, then part of the regional Cofitachequi chiefdom of the Mississippian culture.
Early historyFounding and early capitalCivil War and ReconstructionIndustrialization and the Progressive EraPostwar transformationDowntown revitalization and the twenty-first century
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items below1787Established
1860s2 items · State HouseLOC
1870s2 items · Bird's eye view of the city of Columb…LOC
Be one of the first
Start Columbia’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Columbia’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewState House, 1860: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Columbia
See all 47 →
By decade
Columbia, decade by decade
National Register of Historic Places
151 historic places in Columbia
Columbia has 151 listings on the National Register, and they protect 2,546 historic buildings, because Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic District alone counts 607. 5 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier, which fewer than 3% of listings reach.
#1
Among South Carolina’s most-listed townsby listings · most towns there have none
151places listed121 buildings · 25 districts · 5 other
5National Historic LandmarksSouth Carolina State Hospital, Mills Building + 4 more
2,546historic buildings protectedcounting each building in a district
1969first listedHampton-Preston House · newest: Romer Building, 2026
Where they are
Tap a dot for a photo and link. Districts show at their center.
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresBigger dot = landmark
When they were listed
The Register began in 1966. Columbia’s busiest decade was the 1970s.
260s
5470s
2180s
1490s
2100s
2010s
1920s
LandmarkListed 1970South Carolina State Hospital, Mills Building LandmarkListed 1970South Carolina Statehouse LandmarkListed 1970Ainsley Hall House LandmarkListed 1971First Baptist Church LandmarkListed 1976Chapelle Administration BuildingListed 1969Hampton-Preston HouseListed 1969Lace HouseListed 1970Old Campus District, University of South CarolinaListed 1970South Carolina Governor's MansionListed 1970Washington Street United Methodist ChurchListed 1971First Presbyterian ChurchListed 1971Trinity Episcopal ChurchListed 1971MillwoodListed 1971Caldwell-Hampton-Boylston HouseListed 1971Chesnut CottageListed 1971Columbia Historic District IListed 1971Hale-Elmore-Seibels HouseListed 1971Horry-Guignard HouseListed 1971Arsenal HillListed 1972Preston C. Lorick HouseListed 1972Thomas Woodrow Wilson Boyhood HomeListed 1972Debruhl-Marshall HouseListed 1972Sylvan BuildingListed 1972Supreme Court of South Carolina BuildingListed 1973Mann-Simons CottageListed 1973Saluda Factory Historic DistrictListed 1973Columbia City HallListed 1973Union StationListed 1974Town TheatreListed 1975Allen UniversityListed 1979Columbia CanalListed 1979Alston HouseListed 1979Building at 1210-1214 Main StreetListed 1979Building at 1644 Main StreetListed 1979Consolidated BuildingListed 1979Dovillers-Manning-Magoffin HouseListed 1979Eau Claire Town Hall and Survey Publishing Company BuildingListed 1979Ebenezer Lutheran ChapelListed 1979Ensor-Keenan HouseListed 1979Heslep HouseListed 1979Kirkland, B. B., Seed and Distributing CompanyListed 1979Kress BuildingListed 1979Lever BuildingListed 1979Logan SchoolListed 1979McCord HouseListed 1979Moore-Mann HouseListed 1979National Loan and Exchange Bank BuildingListed 1979US CourthouseListed 1979W. B. Smith Whaley HouseListed 1979Wallace-McGee HouseListed 1979Woodrow Memorial Presbyterian ChurchListed 1979Zimmerman HouseListed 1979Zimmerman SchoolListed 1979Confederate Printing PlantListed 1979House of Peace SynagogueListed 1979Lutheran Theological Seminary Building: Beam DormitoryListed 1980Building at 1722-1724 Main StreetListed 1980Canal Dime Savings BankListed 1980First National BankListed 1980Gervais Street BridgeListed 1980Palmetto BuildingListed 1981Babcock Building, South Carolina State HospitalListed 1982Bethel A.M.E. ChurchListed 1982Building at 303 Saluda AvenueListed 1982Columbia Mills BuildingListed 1982Columbia Historic District II (Boundary Increase)Listed 1982Taylor HouseListed 1982Arcade BuildingListed 1983West Gervais Street Historic DistrictListed 1983Richland Cotton MillListed 1984Fair-Rutherford and Rutherford HousesListed 1984Wardlaw Junior High SchoolListed 1985Palmetto Compress and Warehouse Company BuildingListed 1987Benedict College Historic DistrictListed 1989St. Peter's Roman Catholic ChurchListed 1989Waverly Historic DistrictListed 1989Greyhound Bus DepotListed 1991Elmwood Park Historic District (Additional Documentation)Listed 1993Granby Mill Village Historic DistrictListed 1994Modjeska Monteith Simkins HouseListed 1995North Carolina Mutual BuildingListed 1995Randolph CemeteryListed 1995World War Memorial BuildingListed 1996Southern Cotton Oil CompanyListed 1996Elmwood CemeteryListed 1996Sidney Park Colored Methodist Episcopal ChurchListed 1997McMaster SchoolListed 1998Curtiss-Wright HangarListed 1998George R. Price HouseListed 1998Ladson Presbyterian ChurchListed 1999South Carolina State ArmoryListed 2002Elmwood Park Historic District (Boundary Increase)Listed 2003Carver TheatreListed 2003Old Shandon Historic DistrictListed 2004University Neighborhood Historic DistrictListed 2005Olympia MillListed 2005North Columbia Fire Station No. 7Listed 2005Columbia Township AuditoriumListed 2005Harden Street SubstationListed 2005Williams, A.P., Funeral HomeListed 2006WoodlandsListed 2007Wade Hampton State Office BuildingListed 2007Raymond Price HouseListed 2007Forest Hills Historic DistrictListed 2007Cornwell, Harriet M., Tourist HouseListed 2007Pacific Community Association BuildingListed 2008Good Samaritan-Waverly HospitalListed 2009Wesley Methodist ChurchListed 2009Veterans HospitalListed 2009Columbia Central Fire StationListed 2009Benson, Florence C., Elementary SchoolListed 2009A. Fletcher Spigner HouseListed 2011Columbia Electric Street Railway, Light & Power SubstationListed 2012South Carolina Memorial GardenListed 2012J. Davis Powell HouseListed 2012Efird's Department StoreListed 2013Owen BuildingListed 2014Thurmond, Strom, Federal Building and U.S. CourthouseListed 2015Federal Land Bank BuildingListed 2015Alta Vista-Camp Fornance-Newman Park Historic DistrictListed 2016Miller Brothers Cotton WarehouseListed 2016Carolina Life Insurance CompanyListed 2016Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic DistrictListed 2017Columbia Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)Listed 2017Champion and Pearson Funeral HomeListed 2018Columbia Historic District II (Boundary Increase II and Boundary Decrease)Listed 2018Washington. Booker T., High School AuditoriumListed 2019Cornell ArmsListed 2019Union National Bank BuildingListed 2019Dr. Matilda A. Evans HouseListed 2019Five Points Historic DistrictListed 2019Spann, Dr. Cyril O., Medical OfficeListed 2020Stone Manufacturing CompanyListed 2020Veterans Administration Regional OfficeListed 2020Ruth's Beauty ParlorListed 2021Leevy’s Funeral HomeListed 2021Citadel Shirt CorporationListed 2021Beverly ApartmentsListed 2021Holman’s Barber ShopListed 2021Colonial Village ApartmentsListed 2021Saluda ApartmentsListed 2021Zion Baptist ChurchListed 2022South Carolina State LibraryListed 2023Chapel of HopeListed 2024South Carolina Archives BuildingListed 2024Bob Russell Realty BuildingListed 2025Bellevue-Newman's Field-Gracelynn Terrace Historic District (Boundary Increase)Listed 2025Middleburg Park Historic DistrictListed 2025Richland County Health CenterListed 2026Eau Claire Municipal ComplexListed 2026Romer Building
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places (05/22/2026) · styles from the National Archives catalog · photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as State House (1860) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (4) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.