Woodrow Wilson Family Home
1705 Hampton Street

Constructed in 1872 at a cost of $8,500, this two-story, wood frame building was the home of Woodrow Wilson and his family during the future president's teenage years. Typical of the Tuscan Villa style, this asymmetrical Victorian structure boasts gently sloping gables, three bay windows, and arches on the porch, doorway, and windows. The cream and stone colors of the exterior, as well as the rich reds and greens of the interior, reflect the ideas of popular architect Andrew Jackson Downing, who believed homes should reflect nature's true colors. The home that Wilson claimed he could "walk through.with his eyes closed" has not changed structurally. Inside, the home features reproduction 19th-century style wallpapers and carpets. Original slate mantels, faux finished to look like marble, remain, however. The expansive gardens cultivated by Wilson's mother Jesse are still evident in the mature magnolias that line the front yard.

In 1928, when Columbia voters approved a $300,000.00 bond to construct a municipal auditorium and community center, the Wilsons' former home seemed doomed. However, a group of citizens and the American Legion launched a campaign to save the building, deemed important for its associative value with the nation's 28th President. Their preservation efforts succeeded and the center that is today's Township Auditorium was erected one block north in 1930. Shortly after being saved the home was opened as a house museum and has served in that capacity ever since. Tickets for tours of this nationally important site are available at Historic Columbia's Museum Shop, located adjacent to the Robert Mills House.

Staci Richey and John Sherrer

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