A bill introduced to the South Carolina Legislature by Senator John Lewis Gervais (of District 96) was approved on March 22, 1786. This bill brought about the development of a capital and it was to be named Columbia.

The commissioners who designed the town decided to offer for sale to the public, 400 blocks with very wide streets, each lot was to be ½ acre. Buyers were given three years to build a house at least 30 feet long by 18 feet wide or face a penalty. This was one of the first planned cities in the US.

In 1790, the state legislature met there for the first time.

In 1800, the Santee Canal was completed which gave Columbia a direct river access to Charleston, one of the busiest ports in the US.

In 1801, South Carolina College was established in Columbia; today, it is the University of South Carolina. Columbia was chosen as the site due to its central location. It was the hope of the school to bring together students of the upcountry with those of the low country.

The tiny settlement was incorporated as a town in 1805 and much later, in 1854, as a city. By 1860, it was the largest inland city in the Carolinas. Almost all of its economic wealth was based on cotton.

By the mid 1800s, with railroads handling more and more of the shipping traffic, the Santee Canal ceased operation.

On December 17, 1860, Columbia’s First Baptist Church hosted the South Carolina Secession Convention which resulted in a unanimous vote (159 to 0) to secede from the Union. Being the capital of the first state to secede put Columbia in an especially unenviable position, though it saw no major combat through most of the war, much of it was torched by Sherman’s troops on February 17, 1865.

It is said that when General Sherman’s soldiers arrived at the First Baptist Church, they asked the groundskeeper if this was the church where the South Carolina Secession Convention had been held back in 1860. The loyal groundskeeper knew the soldiers were there to burn his church down, so he directed them to a Methodist church, located down the street! General Sherman’s troops, with great military precision - burned the wrong church! The old First Baptist Church still stands today, thanks to a little fib told by a very loyal groundskeeper.

Following the Civil War, Columbia began a slow recovery from the devastation experienced during the war. Its state legislature had black members for the first time, former slaves who were trusted to be part of the lawmaking process. Railroad repair in the surrounding area was a big opportunity for those seeking employment. Columbia was well on the road to recovery.

In the early twentieth century the textile industry arrived in Columbia. In 1906, there were six textile mills operating in the area, making it a center of textile manufacturing.

Paved streets were introduced in 1908 and by 1911; a minor construction boom was underway.

The U.S. Army’s Camp Jackson was established in 1927 and classified as a Field Artillery Replacement Depot.

The city purchased the old federal courthouse at the corner of Main and Laurel streets in 1934 with the intention of using it as City Hall. It had been designed by President Grant’s federal architect, Alfred Millet. Today, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1940, Camp Jackson became Fort Jackson; in 1968, the fort was annexed to the city of Columbia.