Mann-Simons Cottage
1403 Richland Street

The Mann-Simons Cottage remains as one of only a few properties in the state once owned by free blacks during the antebellum period and now preserved as an historic house museum. Named for Celia Mann and her descendents who owned the house from the mid-nineteenth century until 1970, the home probably began as a one-room house about 1825 or 1830. Over time the home evolved into what is known as a Columbia Cottage, characterized by a relatively symmetrical building of one-and-half stories set atop a raised basement.

Born into slavery in Charleston in 1799, Mann became a skilled midwife who eventually obtained her freedom. She moved to Columbia most likely by the 1830s and raised three daughters, including Agnes Jackson, who inherited the cottage in 1867 following her mother's death. Jackson married famous musician and Joe Randall band member Bill Simons. Her sons Lucius and Charles Simons were active in the Calvary Baptist Church as well as in their own businesses, later adding grocery and laundry/tailoring buildings on the same corner lot as the house.

In 1970, the family sold the house to the Columbia Housing Authority, which planned to demolish the building for a parking lot. However, outcry from preservation-minded citizens persuaded the city to donate the property for restoration instead. By 1978, the cottage had been restored as a house museum and opened to the public. The collections within the cottage reflect the entrepreneurial spirit of antebellum free blacks and postbellum African-Americans. An exhibition presents information on Celia Mann and her descendents, the building's restoration, and an archaeological excavation performed in 1998 at the site. Tickets for tours of the cottage are available at Historic Columbia's Museum Shop, located adjacent to the Robert Mills House.

Staci Richey and John Sherrer

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