About Columbia
The satellite view shows Columbia, the second largest city and capital of
South Carolina, a state in the southeastern
United States with a coastline at the Atlantic Ocean. The city is situated in the center of South Carolina, where the Broad and the Saluda Rivers form the Congaree River.
Greek Revival style South Carolina State House in Columbia, the bronze equestrian statue of Wade Hampton to the left. Hampton was a Confederate cavalry officer who became the first governor of South Carolina after the Reconstruction (1865–1877).
Image: Ron Cogswell
On the site of today Columbia stood the Old Fort Congaree, a frontier fort on the west bank of the Congaree River. A location on the fall line of the Piedmont region and the farthest point above the mouth of the Santee River system that colud be reached by boat.
In 1754, the colonial government of South Carolina established a ferry, to connect the fort with the growing settlements on the east bank of the river.
Columbia was founded in 1786, a town of 400 Blocks in a two-mile square along the river, and named Columbia, the female personification of the United States.
It was the second planned city in the United States. In the same year, the new town replaced Charleston SC as the state capital. In 1865 much of Columbia was destroyed by fire while being occupied by Union troops.
Today Columbia is a mid-size city with a population of about 133,000 inhabitants (est. 2018), approximately 950,000 people live in the Columbia-Orangeburg-Newberry metropolitan area (CSA).
The city is home to the main campus of the
University of South Carolina, the state's flagship university.
Columbia Attractions:
Historical places:
The Horseshoe, a U-shaped building complex is the original campus of the University of South Carolina.
Image: jay8085
South Carolina State House (
www.scstatehouse.gov) the building houses the bicameral South Carolina General Assembly and other government offices. The Greek Revival style building was completed in 1875.
Performing arts:
Koger Center for the Arts (
kogercenterforthearts.com) is a multi-purpose performing arts venue on the campus of the University of South Carolina. The center is home to the Columbia City Ballet (
columbiacityballet.com) and the South Carolina Philharmonic orchestra (
www.scphilharmonic.com)
Museums:
Columbia Museum of Art (
www.columbiamuseum.org) is a pretty space with dynamic exhibitions and fun programs, and yes, they exhibit modern and contemporary art as well.
Bull Street in downtown Columbia.
Image: Sebastian
South Carolina State Museum (
www.scmuseum.org), is the states largest museum. It offers a digital dome planetarium, a 4D interactive theater, and an observatory. The museum showcases items and artefacts related to South Carolina's history and lifestyle.
EdVenture Children's Museum (
www.edventure.org), smoke-free, gum-free and latex balloon-free 92,000 square feet of fun. It is the largest children's museum in the Southeast United States.
SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum (
crr.sc.gov), the museum collects and preserves relicts and finds related to the Confederate military history of South Carolina. The Museum also received the replica Confederate battle flag that had flown for years on the State House grounds. The flag was removed from the South Carolina State House in 2015.
Shopping:
Columbiana Centre (
www.columbianacentre.com) a regional shopping mall with 104 stores and an ice skating rink in Winter.
Dutch Square Mall (
www.dutchsquare.com) mall with more than forty stores, restaurants, and an AMC movie theater.
Convention Centers:
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (
www.columbiaconventioncenter.com) is the city's convention center in downtown.
Fairs and events:
South Carolina State Fair (
www.scstatefair.org), South Carolina's annual 12-day state fair held in October.
NashiCon (
nashicon.com) is an annual three-day anime (Japanese comics) convention held during March or April.
Parks:
Congaree National Park is the largest intact expanse of old growth, bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States.
Image: Simon
Finlay Park is the city's largest park with a scenic waterfall and a lake in downtown Columbia. The park also hosts numerous events and festivals.
Riverbanks Zoo and garden (
www.riverbanks.org) is Columbia's zoo with surrounding botanical gardens. The zoo is home to more than 2000 animals.
Sesquicentennial State Park is a state park with hiking trails, meeting facilities, a dorm, and a ropes course.
Frankie's Fun Park (
frankies.com) local outpost of the family-friendly amusement park chain.
Outdoors:
Lake Murray a large reservoir of the Saluda River and a recreational attraction west of Columbia.
Dreher Island State Recreation Area is an islet within Lake Murray, a recreation area for boating, hiking, camping, and fishing.
Congaree National Park (
www.nps.gov/cong/), old growth, bottomland hardwood floodplain forest with options for canoeing, hiking, fishing, and camping.
Columbia Parks and Recreation Foundation (
columbiaparksandrecreationfoundation.org) site with information about the city parks and the community parks system.
South Carolina State Parks (
southcarolinaparks.com) is a guide to South Carolina's State Parks.
Sports:
Williams-Brice Stadium, the American football stadium is home to the South Carolina Gamecocks (
gamecocksonline.com).
Colonial Life Arena (
www.coloniallifearena.com) basketball, the multi-purpose arena is the playground for the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams.
Carolina Coliseum, a 12,400-seat multi-purpose arena
The map shows a city map of Columbia with expressways, main roads, and streets, zoom out to find the location of
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (
IATA code: CAE), about 7.2 mi (12 km) by road (via SC-602/Platt Springs Rd), southwest of Columbia's central business district.
Just zoom in (+) to see South Carolina State House, it houses the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina.
To find a location use the form below.