West Columbia is a city and commuter town in the suburban eastern sections of Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population was 14,988, and the 2019 population estimate was 17,998. West Columbia is bordered to the east by Columbia, the state capital, across the Congaree River. It is near Columbia's city center or downtown district as well as the South Carolina State House and the Congaree Vista, known locally as "the Vista." The city is bordered to the south by its sister suburb, Cayce. A small portion of the city borders the town of Lexington to the east. West Columbia is part of the greater Columbia, SC metropolitan statistical area.
The South Carolina State Museum has four floors of permanent and changing exhibits, a digital dome planetarium, 4D interactive theater and an observatory. The State Museum, is located along the banks of the Congaree River in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. It is the largest museum in the state, and is a Smithsonian Affiliate and part of the American Alliance of Museums. Positioned on an old shipping canal that dates back to pre-Civil War times, the museum is widely recognized as a resource for South Carolina history and lifestyle. The museum opened on October 29, 1988 and is housed in what it calls its largest artifact, the former Columbia Mills Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. When the mill opened in 1894, manufacturing cotton duck cloth, it was the first totally electric textile mill in the world. It was also the first major industrial installation for the General Electric corporation. On certain levels of the museum, the original flooring has been kept intact, distinguishable by hundreds of textile brads and rings that became embedded in the floor while it was still being used as a mill. The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum is located within the Columbia Mills Building, and is the oldest museum exhibit in Columbia.
Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Allen University Historic District.
The Old Campus District, University of South Carolina, is a historic district centered on The Horseshoe on the main campus of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. On June 5, 1970, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. On April 19, 1996 MTV Unplugged filmed Hootie & the Blowfish's concert on The Horseshoe before the release of their second album Fairweather Johnson.
Edward Brickell White, also known as E. B. White, was an architect in the United States. He was known for his Gothic Revival architecture and his use of Roman and Greek designs.
The Robert Mills House, also known as Robert Mills Historic House and Park or the Ainsley Hall House, is a historic house museum at 1616 Blanding Street in Columbia, South Carolina. Built in 1823 to a design by Robert Mills, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 for its architectural significance. The Historic Columbia Foundation owns and operates the home, which has been furnished with decorative arts of the early 19th century, including American Federal, English Regency, and French Empire pieces.
William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina. More than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The McMaster School, built in 1911, is an historic building located at 1106 Pickens Street on the corner of Senate Street in Columbia, South Carolina. It was designed by noted Columbia architect William Augustus Edwards of the firm of Edwards and Walter. It was named for Col. F. W. McMaster (1826-1899), the first chairman of the local school board and was used as a grammar school until 1956.
The Hampton–Preston House located at 1615 Blanding Street in Columbia, South Carolina, is a historic mansion that was the home of members of the prominent Hampton family. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 29, 1969.
The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic post office and courthouse located at Charleston in Charleston County, South Carolina. The building and its annexes serve the federal court for the Charleston Division of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Bethel A.M.E. Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church at 1528 Sumter Street in Columbia, South Carolina.
Old Greenville City Hall is a former building in Greenville, South Carolina, originally built as the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office in 1889 on the corner of Main and Broad Streets. Transferred to the city of Greenville in 1938, it served as Greenville city hall. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1971, and was removed in 1973 after its demolition.
The U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, also known as Statesville City Hall, is a historic post office and courthouse building located at Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina. It was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Willoughby J. Edbrooke and built in 1891. It is a rectangular 2 1/2-story structure, seven bays wide, and three bays deep. It is constructed of red brick and sandstone. The building has a two-story corner tower, one-story entrance pavilion with central arched recessed entrance, and a tall hip roof.
Beam Dormitory was the first permanent building at the American Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. It was built on the highest point in Columbia in 1911 based on a design by noted Virginia architect Charles M. Robinson. The structure was built by Wise Granite Co. It included a chapel, housing, refectory, classrooms, and faculty offices. Beam Hall is now used as a dormitory and also contains office suites, meeting rooms, and an exercise facility. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Charles Coker Wilson was an American architect based in Columbia, South Carolina. Wilson was born in Hartsville, South Carolina, and graduated from South Carolina College with an engineering degree in 1886, continuing on to receive his master's degree in 1888. He briefly studied architecture in the Atelier Duray at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Much of his work contained Beaux-Arts elements. Architects who worked for Wilson include Joseph F. Leitner, during 1901–1905, who became a noted architect in Wilmington, North Carolina; and Henry Ten Eyck Wendell, during 1905–1906.
John Henry Devereux, also called John Delorey before 1860, was an American architect and builder best known for his designs in Charleston, South Carolina. According to the National Park Service, he was the "most prolific architect of the post-Civil War era" in the Charleston area. His works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. His Charleston Post Office and Courthouse has been designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Woodruff High School is a public secondary school in Woodruff, South Carolina, United States, and is the only high school in Spartanburg County School District 4.
Chester City Hall and Opera House is a historic city hall and theatre located at Chester, Chester County, South Carolina. It was built in 1890–1891, and is a Romanesque Revival style brick building. The façade consists of three sections: a four-story tower, gabled three-story central section, and a less ornate three-story section. The interior was renovated following a fire in 1929, which destroyed the original spire tower containing a four-faced clock. Since 1891, this building has housed the town's administrative offices.
Horry-Guignard House is a historic home located at Columbia, South Carolina. It was built before 1813, and is a two-story, late Federal style, modified I-house type frame dwelling. The front facade features a one-story, full-width balustraded porch supported by square columns. During the winter of 1813–1814, the main hall was widened from six feet to eleven feet. To do this, the house was sawed in half and the two ends were pulled apart to rest on two new foundations. It was probably built by Peter Horry (1747-1815), a Revolutionary War Colonel and Brigadier General of the South Carolina Militia. Later, the house was acquired by John Gabriel Guignard (1751-1822), the Surveyor General of South Carolina from 1798 to 1802. Guignard is responsible for the early design of the city and laid out the first streets of Columbia.
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