Blog
From Hamilton to Hampton Street: HC Tackles Musical Trivia
True or false: On January 25th, the award-winning smash musical Hamilton is coming to Columbia. We wish it were true. But on January 25th, Historic Columbia brings you the next best thing— Historic Happy Hour ! And this month, we’re tackling the Tony award-winning giant, Hamilton: An American Musical. What...
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Learn All About Pruning at HC's Next Garden Workshop
Most gardeners, myself included, are usually most excited by what we can add to our gardens. It just as important, though, to think about what we can remove from our gardens to achieve design goals. After you have finished your fall planting and clean-up, mid-winter is a perfect time to...
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Preservation Matters: SC Department of Mental Health's BullStreet District
Awesome, expansive and intriguing are but a few of the adjectives that spring to mind upon touring the South Carolina Department of Mental Health’s BullStreet facility. Bustling with activity for generations, the sprawling 178-acre tract of land today is best characterized largely by silence punctuated by sounds beyond its walls...
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Claussen's Bakery: A Landmark of Industrial Columbia
On Thursday, January 17, we will take guests on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Claussen’s Bakery , a historic Five Points landmark that originated as Claussen’s Bakery in 1928. The building was built by George Frederick Claussen, the grandson of a German immigrant who had previously established a steam bakery...
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Help Tell Modjeska Simkins' Story
Each year, Historic Columbia’s Annual Fund program supports a meaningful project that will have lasting impact on our community. This year’s annual fund is focused on the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House . Built between 1890 and 1895, this one-story cottage was home to Modjeska Monteith Simkins (pictured above)—considered "the matriarch of...
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A Historic Holiday Snapshot
On December 22, 1955, readers of The Columbia Record newspaper met a full-page chronicle of Columbia’s Gross family preparing to ring in the holidays. With husband Albert M. Gross ill and states away in Florida, wife Miriam wrangled her six children, ages 18 months through ten years, as the annual...
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#TipTuesday | How to Fold a Bishop's Cap Napkin
We're back today with another #TipTuesday! If you're entertaining this holiday season and want to add a touch of history to your party, check out this quick video on the history of the Bishop Cap napkin fold with Historic Columbia's director of historic house museums, Fielding Freed. This kind of...
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Historic Holidays Around the World
Celebrating the holidays often means taking part in family traditions year after year. Each activity holds meaning and value for a family—from trimming the tree to caroling in the neighborhood. But have you ever wondered where these traditions originated? The staff and volunteers at Historic Columbia love sharing these stories...
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A Sunday Stroll Through Main Street
Main Street in Columbia has lived a double life. Today, festivals, farmers markets, as well as retail and cultural arts institutions, make Main Street one of the city’s most vibrant districts. But what was Main Street like in the past? To answer that question, we need to look one block...
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Historic Holiday Playlist
To help you get ready for the holidays, Historic Columbia offers a series of #TipTuesdays to give you some ideas for holiday decorating and entertaining with a historic twist. To kick us off this week, we went diving through some archive collections to create a cool (if somewhat obscure) playlist...
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