Columbia is the capital of the United States. UU. It is located at the confluence of the Saluda River and the Broad River, which meet in Columbia to form the Congaree River. As the state capital, Columbia is the seat of the South Carolina State House of Representatives, the state's center of government.
In 1860, the South Carolina Secession Convention was held in Columbia; delegates voted in favor of secession, making South Carolina the first state to leave the Union in the events that led to the Civil War. During colonial times, European settlers encountered the Congaree in this area, who inhabited several villages along the Congaree River. The colonists established a border fort and a fur trading post named after the Congaree, on the western bank of the Congaree River. It was at the fall line and at the head of the navigation of the Santee river system.
In 1754, the colonial government of South Carolina established a ferry to connect the fort with growing European settlements in the higher areas of the east bank. Like many other important early settlements in colonial America, Columbia is on the downline of the Piedmont region. The fall line is usually marked by rapids in places where the river descends sharply to lower levels in tidal waters or lowlands of the coastal plain. Beyond the fall line, the river is unnavigable for ships sailing upstream.
Businessmen and, later, industrialists set up factories in those areas, as water that flowed downstream, often through waterfalls, provided energy to run the equipment. After the American Revolutionary War and the independence of the United States, state senator John Lewis Gervais, from the city of Ninety-Six, introduced a bill that was approved by the legislature on March 22, 1786 to create a new state capital. There was considerable discussion about the name of the new city. According to published accounts, Senator Gervais said that he hoped that in this city we would find refuge under the wings of COLUMBIA, because that was the name he wanted it to be called.
A legislator insisted on Washington's name, but Columbia won 11-7 in the state senate. The commissioners designed a city of 400 blocks in a 2 mile (3 km) square along the river. The blocks were divided into 0.5 acre (2,000 m²) lots and sold to speculators and potential residents. Buyers had to build a home that was at least 30 feet (9.1 m) long and 18 feet (5.5 m) wide within three years, or they would face a 5% annual penalty.
The perimeter streets and two thoroughfares were 150 feet (46 m) wide. The remaining squares were divided by streets 100 feet (30 m) wide. As the capital and one of the first planned cities in the United States, Columbia began to grow rapidly. Its population approached 1,000 inhabitants shortly after the beginning of the 19th century.
Columbia was incorporated as a city in 1854, with an elected mayor and six city councilors. Two years later, Columbia had a police force comprised of a full-time chief and nine patrolmen. The city continued to grow at a rapid pace, and during the 1850s and 1860s, Columbia was the largest inland city in the Carolinas. Railroad transportation served as a major cause of population expansion in Columbia during this time.
The railroad lines that arrived in the city in the 1840s carried mainly cotton bales, not passengers, from there to the main markets and the port of Charlestown. Cotton was the state's main product and the lifeblood of the Columbia community; by 1850, virtually all commercial and economic activity in the city was related to cotton. Cotton was shipped to textile mills in New York and New England, as well as to England and Europe, where demand was high. During the Reconstruction era, when African-American Republicans were among the legislators elected to state government, Columbia became the center of considerable attention.
Reporters, journalists, travelers and tourists flocked here to see a southern state legislature whose members included freedmen (former slaves), as well as men of color who had been free before the war. The city began to rebuild and recover from the devastating fire of 1865; during the first years of Reconstruction there was a slight boom in construction. In addition, repairing railroad tracks in peripheral areas created more jobs for residents. Columbia in ruins after being burned down at the end of the Civil War, c.
It had 803 retail establishments, 280 of them food stores. The city also had 58 clothing and clothing outlets, 57 restaurants and dining rooms, 55 gas stations, 38 pharmacies, 20 furniture stores, 19 car dealerships, 11 shoe stores, nine tobacco stands, five department stores and a bookstore. The wholesale distributors located in the city numbered 119, and a third of them were dedicated to the sale of food. One of Columbia's most outstanding geographical features is the fall line, the boundary between the Piedmont highlands region and the Atlantic coastal plain, through which rivers fall in the form of waterfalls or rapids.
Columbia developed on the fall line of the Congaree River, which is formed by the confluence of the Broad and Saluda rivers. The Congaree was the furthest inland point for inland waterway navigation. The energy of falling water also powered Columbia's first mills. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 134.9 square miles (349.5 km), of which 132.2 square miles (342.4 km) is land and 7.0 square kilometers are water (2.01%).
Approximately 2/3 of Columbia's land area, 81.2 square miles (210 km), lies within the Fort Jackson Military Installation, much of which consists of uninhabited training camps. The actual inhabited area of the city is just over 50 square miles (130 km). In the city, the population was scattered, with 20.1% under 18 years of age, 22.9% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64 and 10.3% from 65 years or older. The average age was 29 years.
For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The Carolina Coliseum, which opened in 1968, is a 12,401-seat facility that initially served as the headquarters of the USC Gamecocks basketball teams. The stadium could easily be adapted for other entertainment purposes, including concerts, car exhibitions, circuses, ice shows and other events.
The versatility and quality of the Coliseum at one point allowed the university to use the facilities for performing arts events such as the Boston Pops, the Chicago Symphony, the Feld Ballet and other performances by important artists. An acoustic enclosure and a state-of-the-art lighting system helped the coliseum to present these activities. The Coliseum was home to Columbia Inferno, an ECHL team. However, since the construction of the Colonial Life Arena in 2002, the coliseum is now the center of men's and women's basketball programs, and the central stadium now houses the two main practice courts.
Granby Park opened in November 1998 as a gateway to the Columbia rivers, adding additional access to the many river activities available to residents. Granby is part of the Three Rivers Greenway, a system of green spaces along the banks of the Columbia rivers, which adds another piece to the long-term plan and, finally, connects to the existing Riverfront Park. Granby is a 24-acre (97,000 m) linear park with canoe access points, fishing spots, bridges and half a mile of nature trails along the banks of the Congaree River. Located along the meandering Congaree River in central South Carolina, Congaree National Park is home to champion trees, primitive forest landscapes, and varied plant and animal life.
This 90 km (22,200 acres) park protects the largest contiguous stretch of hardwood forests left in the United States. The park is an international biosphere reserve. Known for its gigantic hardwoods and imposing pine trees, the park's flood forest includes one of the highest peaks in the world and some of the tallest trees in the eastern United States. Congaree National Park offers a sanctuary for plants and animals, a research site for scientists, and a place to walk and relax in a quiet and wild environment.
Adjacent to the historic Columbia Canal, Riverfront Park is home to a two-and-a-half-mile trail. On the other side of the canal is an old railway bridge that is now a pedestrian walkway. The park is used for walking, jogging, biking and fishing. Picnic tables and benches dot the trail.
Markers are located along the trail so that visitors can measure the distance. The park is part of the Palmetto Trail, a walking and biking trail that stretches across the state, from Greenville to Charleston. The city council consists of six members, four from the districts and two elected by general suffrage. The city council is responsible for developing policies and enacting laws, rules and regulations to ensure future community and economic growth, in addition to providing the necessary support for the orderly and efficient operation of city services.
View related article: Former mayors of Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia is also home to several extension campuses, including those of Erskine Theological Seminary, the University of the South, and the University of Phoenix. Columbia's central location, among the population centers of South Carolina, has made it a transportation focal point with three interstate highways and an interstate branch. The city is served daily by the Amtrak station, with Silver Star trains connecting Columbia with New York City, Washington, DC, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami. The station is located at 850 Pulaski St.
The Lexington Medical Center, opened in 1971, is a network of hospitals and urgent care centers located throughout Lexington County, with a location in Columbia. With 137,276 inhabitants, Columbia is the second most populated city in the state of South Carolina among 474 cities. But beware, Columbia, because North Charleston, with 114,542 people, and Mount Pleasant, with 88,900 people, are right behind you. Columbia enjoys a diversified economy, and the main employers in the area are the South Carolina state government, the Palmetto Health hospital system, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Palmetto GBA, and the University of South Carolina.
Prisma Health serves nearly 1.5 million unique patients a year in its 21-county market area that covers 50% of South Carolina. In 1828, Elias Marks founded the South Carolina Women's Collegiate Institute for the higher education of young women. Columbia is home to the University of South Carolina, the most important public university in the state and the largest in the state. Columbia's top employers include Blue Cross, Blue Shield, the University of South Carolina, and the Palmetto Health hospital system.
Located on the University of South Carolina campus, this facility has 41 suites, four entertainment suites and the Frank McGuire Club, a full-service hospitality room with capacity for 300 people. Secession may well have been declared in Columbia, if it weren't for a smallpox outbreak that moved the convention to Charleston, where South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union on December 20. Columbia is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, and the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is across the street from the state capitol. The facility is known for hosting various events, from the State of the State Address to the South Carolina Bodybuilding Championship and the South Carolina Science Fair.
The park opened in November 1986 in conjunction with the inauguration of the South Carolina Vietnam Memorial. Air Force and is used as a training base for the 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard. Until 1959, the Southern Railway Skyland Special (Asheville, North Carolina - Jacksonville, Florida) stopped at Columbia's Union Station. In 2000, the Confederate battle flag was moved from the South Carolina State House of Representatives to the Confederate Memorial.
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