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Foundation to Catalogue Histories of Six Local Neighborhoods

This image, taken around 1910 at the intersection of Woodrow and Devin streets, shows the trolley that once ran in Columbia's Old Shandon neighborhood, one of six that will be the focus of a historical grant project.

History contact

If you have items or stories related to these six neighborhoods, contact John Sherrer with the Historic Columbia Foundation at jsherrer@historiccolumbia.org, or call (803) 252-1770, ext. 28.

Did you know that ...

Old Shandon, an early suburb, once sported a short-lived casino — established to entice potential tourists to the state capital —generations before Columbians contended with video poker.

Arsenal Hill was the home of Richard Samuel Roberts, whose collection of glass plate negatives depicting scores of black Columbians was discovered in the crawl space of his Wayne Street residence after his death.

Cottontown, today an early suburb prized for its historic homes, once swelled each year from the harvest of the state’s former cash crop — cotton.

Lower Waverly, an inner-ring suburb, once benefited from trolley service that linked it to the capital city’s earlier districts.

Heathwood, formerly known as Valle Crucis and an architecturally rich neighborhood, once was home to a convent and, later, an Episcopal school that derived its name from Moses Chappel Heath’s mansion, Heathwood Hall.

Hollywood/Rosehill had some of its distinctive early 20th-century homes built in a “snap” thanks to numbers marking their kit-house parts.

SOURCE: The Historic Columbia Foundation

(Columbia, SC)--The Historic Columbia Foundation has landed a prestigious grant to tell the stories of six Columbia neighborhoods.

The Institute for Museum and Library Services awarded the $107,400 grant to the foundation because the program “connected with the community,” said Mamie Bittner, the institute’s deputy director for Policy, Planning, Research and Communications.

Historic Columbia was awarded one of 154 grants from the institute’s Museums for America program out of 371 applications.

“They just submitted a very good program,” Bittner said. “It’s a very competitive award and a mark of excellence in the museum community.”

The Washington, D.C.-based institute is a branch of the federal government and distributed $16.9 million this year in funds appropriated by Congress.

The grants are open to all of the nation’s 17,500 museums and 122,000 libraries as well as zoos and aquariums.

Historic Columbia will use the money to compile the histories of Cottontown, Lower Waverly, Old Shandon, Arsenal Hill, Hollywood-Rose Hill and Heathwood, said Robin Waites, the foundation’s executive director.

Researchers will collect oral histories, old photographs, historical items, stories and other information about the founding and community life of the neighborhoods, she said.

The foundation then will produce a self-guided tour brochure, interactive Web maps, exhibits in community centers and other methods to educate those interested.

“We’re going to drill down into these areas,” Waites said.

The program will cost $200,000 and take two years to complete. The foundation is adding the remaining $92,600, which it raised through smaller grants and donations.

Cliff Spann is president of the neighborhood association in Arsenal Hill, arguably the city’s most historic neighborhood.

It was founded in 1820 in the northwestern corner of the city’s original 1786 grid of streets and later took its name from the old Palmetto Foundry, which became a cannon manufacturing plant — or arsenal — during the Civil War, he said.

Of note: 11 Union soldiers were killed there in an explosion that occurred as they attempted to remove equipment during Gen. William T. Sherman’s occupation of the city in 1865, he said.

The explosion destroyed the second floor of the arsenal, but the first floor and basement still exist and serve as the neighborhood community center. It is ironically located on Lincoln Street (named for Revolutionary War hero Benjamin Lincoln, not U.S. President Abraham Lincoln) across from the governor’s mansion.

The neighborhood grew to prominence in the early 20th century, home to both upper-class whites and blacks — separated in areas east and west of the railroad cut.

Spann said few people know these stories, and the Historic Columbia Foundation program will help people understand the neighborhoods’ significance in the city development.

He also noted that at least six new residential developments have been built in the area in the past few years — and it has become a very diverse community with houses ranging from public housing along Richland Street to the mansions on Governor’s Hill.

Cataloguing the history “is very important, given the significant history of the area and the rapid development,” Spann said. “It’s paramount that we maintain the integrity of the neighborhood and its history.”

— Article by By Jeff Wilkinson, SC The State

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