Columbia Road Trip — Columbia, South Carolina

These photos were taken on SCIWAY’s roadtrip to Columbia in February 2008. We visited the the South Carolina State Museum, the Congaree River, some of Blue Sky’s public art, and Jaco’s in Olympia. We would’ve needed a couple more days to visit all the sites in our capital city.

Our first stop was to visit “Hollywood Comes to SC” at the State Museum. This exhibit gathers together various props, costumes, and memorabilia from movies filmed here in South Carolina. They range from a life-sized replica of the Hunley to Forrest Gump’s suit. Various clips of films are shown throughout the exhibit. For more information, visit our Guide to Movies Filmed in SC, a nice complement to the exhibit.

The South Carolina State Museum is housed in the former Columbia Mill on Gervais Street. When it opened in 1894, it was the first textile mill powered entirely by electricity. The picture above shows some spinning machines at work, part of the exhibit on textiles in South Carolina.

The Congaree River winds its way through Columbia just south of the downtown area. It is formed by the confluence of the Saluda and the Broad Rivers. The Three Rivers Greenway, with trails that follow the Congaree, provides a great way to enjoy the river.

The SS Columbia, built in 1905, once plied the waters between our capital and Georgetown. The trip took 22 hours. By 1916, a series of floods and the advent of railroad commerce effectively ended riverine traffic. The vessel was left at its mooring to rot. Today, when the river level is low, one can still see the bottom parts of the hull lodged in the banks of the Congaree River, not far from where the Gervais Street bridge crosses into West Columbia.

Main Street in Columbia has all the features of a metropolitan downtown. Glass-paned skyscrapers mix with elegant historic buildings. Various shops, restaurants, and new residential apartments also provide the area with a vibrant feel.

Busted Plug Plaza by Columbia artist Blue Sky, is located at the corner of Marion and Taylor Streets in downtown Columbia. It was unveiled in 2001 and remains the largest fire hydrant in the country.

Tunnelvision, another creation by Blue Sky, is adjacent to the giant hydrant and is painted on the wall of the AgFirst Farm Credit Bank at Marion and Taylor Streets. Unveiled in 1975, the mural gives the illusion of a tunnel heading into a sunset landscape.

Jaco’s (‘jah-coes’) is a well known Columbia landmark to anyone who has gone to the State Fair, lived in the Olympia neighborhood, or gone to a USC football game at Williams-Brice Stadium. As the land is now for sale, we might see it disappear to be replaced by new development.