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THE 1700's
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For nearly a century before the creation of Columbia by
the General Assembly in 1786, the site of Columbia was important to the
overall development of the state.
The
Congarees, a frontier fort on the west bank of the Congaree River, was
the head of navigation in the Santee River system. A ferry was
established by the colonial government in 1754 to connect the fort with
the growing settlements on the higher ground on the east bank.
State
Senator John Lewis Gervais 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 argument over the name for the new city. One legislator
insisted on the name Washington, but Columbia won out by a vote of 11-7
in the state Senate.
The
commissioners designed a town of 400 Blocks in a two-mile square along
the river. The blocks were divided into half-acre lots and sold to speculators
and prospective residents. Buyers had to build a house at least 30 feet
long and 18 feet wide within three years or face an annual 5 percent
penalty.
The
perimeter streets and two through streets were 150 feet wide. The
remaining squares were divided by thoroughfares 100 feet wide. The width
was determined by the belief that the dangerous and pesky mosquito could
not fly more than 60 feet without dying of starvation along the way.
Columbians
still enjoy most of the magnificent network of wide streets.
The
commissioners comprised the local government until 1797 when a Commission
of Streets and Markets was created by the General Assembly. Three main
issues occupied most of their time: public drunkenness, gambling and poor
sanitation.
As
the second planned city in the United States, Columbia began to grow
rapidly. Its population was nearing 1,000 shortly after the turn of the
century.
THE
1800's
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Columbia received its first charter as a town in 1805.
An intendent and six wardens would govern the town.
John
Taylor was the first elected intendent. He later served in both houses of
the General Assembly, both houses of Congress and eventually as governor
of the state.
By
1816, there were 250 homes in the town and a population over 1,000.
The
town's governing body was empowered to tax these citizens by up to 12
cents per $100 of property. An extra 5-cent levy could be charged to
those who wished to be exempt from patrol duty. Additional taxes could be
levied for ownership of a carriage, $5; a wagon, $3; and $4 for a
mechanic's license.
For
another $2 per year, a citizen could be come exempt from working on the
streets. When the Legislature was in session, the town council constantly
heard complaints about weeds and bushes growing in the streets.
THE
1800's - cont
One
of the first municipal employees was the "Warner", someone who
went through town warning citizens when it was their time to work on the
public streets and roads.
In
the early days of the town, every citizen was required to keep one fire
bucket for each chimney in his house. Five small fire brigades were
organized in 1816 with each male citizen expected to serve. Volunteer
departments later replaced these brigades.
Policing
the new town was also a hit and miss proposition in the early 1800's. The
legislature has appointed a marshall who walked through the town twice a
day. An official town guard was created in 1824. Citizens could buy an
exemption from serving in the guard for $5.
Columbia
became chartered in 1854, with an elected mayor and six aldermen. Two
years later, they had a police force consisting of a full-time chief and
nine patrolmen. The starting salary for the patrolmen was $16 per month.
Abram
Blanding, the town's first school teacher and attorney, built Columbia's
first waterworks. Pumping water with a steam engine to a wooden tank,
water was carried by cast iron and lead pipes to the homes and businesses
of the city.
The
city purchased the system from Blanding at a third of his investment in
1835. As a tribute to Blanding, the town council later changed the name
of Walnut Street to Blanding Street.
Growth
continued, with the first annexations of the suburbs in 1870.
THE
1900's
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Columbia had no paved streets until 1908, when 17
blocks of Main Street were surfaced. There were, however, 115 publicly
maintained street crossings at intersections to keep pedestrians from
having to wade through a sea of mud between wooden sidewalks.
As
an experiment, Washington Street was once paved with wooden blocks. This
proved to be the source of much local amusement when they buckled and
floated away during heavy rains. The blocks were replaced with asphalt
paving in 1925.
The
first paid firemen were hired in 1903. A car was purchased for the chief
that same year, evidently the first vehicle owned by the city.
In
1934, the federal courthouse at Main and Laurel was purchased by the city
for use as City Hall. Built of granite from nearby Winnsboro, Columbia
City Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Designed
by Alfred Bult Millet, President Ulysses S. Grant's federal architect,
the building was completed in 1876. Mullet, best known for his design of
the Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., had originally
designed the building with a clock tower. Large cost overruns probably
caused it to be left out.
Copies
of Mullet's original drawings can be seen on the walls of City Hall
alongside historic photos of Columbia's beginnings.
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