(Courtesy Historic Columbia Foundation)  Established by the General Assembly in 1786 Columbia replaced Charleston as the seat of government for the Palmetto State. The move accommodated the growing numbers of backcountry residents, who by the late 1700s outnumbered their Lowcountry counterparts four to one. The city's name, a popular moniker at the time may stem from a reverence for Christopher Columbus who was credited with founding the New World in 1492. Columbia enjoys the distinction of being the state's first planned city, and only the second planned city in the United States (Savannah, Georgia was the first).
Columbia's original layout consisted of blocks laid out within a two-mile-by-two-mile square grid. Bordered by the Congaree River to its west, the city is situated along the state's geographic fall line, or the point at which the rivers cease to be navigable from the Lowcountry. Thanks to this, and the fact that the city rests almost in the middle of the state, Columbia grew into a center for politics, education, commerce, and transportation within the first generation of its existence. Much of the city's success stemmed from an economy based upon cotton whose international marketability yielded vast sums of wealth, evident in the homes left behind by plantation owners. With the advent of greater technology such as a canal system in the 1820s and then rail service by 1842, Columbia was a modern city boasting a population of about 6,000 by the mid nineteenth century. A decade later, on the eve of the Civil War, Columbia was the largest inland town in the Carolinas. With 8,052 residents it was twice the size of its closest rival of Raleigh, North Carolina!
 Columbia's role in the Civil War has been the subject of numerous books recalling that dark chapter in our nation's history. The Secession Convention convened on December 17, 1860 at Columbia's First Baptist Church, a structure that still stands today along with over 20 other pre-1865 buildings. In over four years of war Columbia remained unscathed. Then in just 24 hours after General Sherman's arrival on February 17, 1865, about one-third of the city--including the commercial and governmental district, all of its war-related facilities, and many private homes--lay in ruins. From the destruction Columbia rebounded to return to that which its founding fathers intended - a thriving capital city, though its transformation took time physically and psychologically.
 The Greater Columbia Civil War Alliance offers a self-guided tour of General Sherman's March on Columbia. Click here to view a  Print-friendly brochure.
By the early twentieth century Columbia became nationally important again as the federal government established Camp Jackson as a basic training facility for the United States Army during World War I. Years later, during World War II, the facility was improved, and enlarged to become Fort Jackson, currently our nation's largest Army basic training facility. Also during World War II Columbia Army Airbase, today's Columbia Metropolitan Airport, trained numerous bomber pilots for missions oversees. Among them were the famous Doolittle Raiders, commanded by Lt. Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, who led a daring assault on Japan following that country's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Today, Columbia is a New South city whose vitality is based largely upon the diversity of its offerings. Like the attributes that made it popular since its founding, Columbia continues to serve the Palmetto State as a center for education, a seat of government, and a crossroads of commerce and culture.
Timeline
1786 - General Assembly passed legislation to create a new capital city.
1790 - Capital moved from Charleston to Columbia
1806 - Columbia incorporated and becomes first planned state capital in the U.S.
1843 - Mann-Simons Cottage associated with Celia Mann, a Charleston slave, who bought her freedom and walked to Columbia.
1860 - Secession Convention opens at First Baptist Church in Columbia.
1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. About 63,000 men from the state served in the Confederate armed forces.
1865 - Major General Tecumseh Sherman marched into Columbia. The city was half destroyed by fire.
1868 - South Carolina was readmitted to the Union.
1904 - Carnegie library construction begins at Benedict College.
1917 - Fort Jackson, the nation's largest U.S. Army training facility, established to prepare soldiers for World War I.
1954 - Strom Thurmond became first U.S. Senator elected by a write-in vote.
2003 - Congaree Swamp National Monument designated South Carolina's first National Park and renamed Congaree National Park.
2006 - Richland County Awarded "All America City" by National Civic League
Additional History Pages:
Historic Attractions
African American Heritage Attractions
Fort Jackson
Colleges & Universities
Famous Columbia Locals
Kimberley Aiken - Miss America 1994.
Maclane Barton - A film actor whose movies include Treasure of Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon.
Charles Bolden - America's first African-American astronaut.
James Dickey - Best known for his novel Deliverance, Dickey was poet in residence and chaired the English Department at the University of South Carolina.
Stephen Davis - Running back for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.
Ainsley Earhardt - FOX News anchor
Leeza Gibbons - Television personality who hosted Entertainment Tonight.
Wade Hampton III - Governor of South Carolina, United States Senator, State Legislator and Confederate General.
Hootie and the Blowfish - Nationally-known rock band, started when band members were students at the University of South Carolina.
William "Hootie" Johnson - Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.
Jermaine O'Neal - Youngest player in the NBA to be named Player of the Year.
Kristin Davis - Television actress who has starred in Melrose Place and Sex in the City.
Doolittle's Raiders - Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, 88 pilots and their crew trained for their famous WW II Tokyo bombing mission in Columbia.
Kary Mullis - Won Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993 for DNA research.
Sterling Sharpe - Former football player for NFL Green Bay Packers.
George Rogers - Heisman Trophy winner in 1980 and two-time All-American football player, picked first overall in the 1980 NFL draft.
William Price Fox - Professor of English and Writer in Residence at the University of South Carolina. Author of South Carolina: A Guide to Unique Places and several works of fiction.
Alex English - A University of South Carolina and NBA basketball star recently inductee into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Courtney Shealy - Two-time gold medalist at the 2000 Olympics.
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