Columbia

About

Designing for the City

"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."

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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, and in 1937, it officially became Columbia City Hall. Built of granite from nearby Winnsboro, Columbia City Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Alfred Bult Mullett, President Ulysses S. Grant's federal architect, the building was completed in 1875. 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."

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“History of Columbia.” : Welcome to the City of Columbia :

www.columbiasc.net/about-columbia.

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https://www.cardcow.com/343144/main-street-looking-south-capitol-building-columbia-carolina/

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The Daily Phoenix, 20 June 1874.

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