South Carolina Columbia Mission

The Congaree lived in villages along the Congaree River before European settlement. English colonists later established Congaree Fort, and a ferry connected the river’s east and west banks in 1754. In 1786, South Carolina chose Columbia as its centrally located capital, and John Guignard laid it out as a two-mile-square grid.

The General Assembly first met in Columbia in 1790. Union forces captured the city on February 17, 1865, and much of Columbia was destroyed by fire between February 17 and 18. In the early 2000s, downtown revitalization included Colonial Life Arena, EdVenture, and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.