Life on Main Street
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Palladium Tour | Life on Main Street
This webpage has all the information you need to make the most of your time on the tour. Use the Quick Link buttons below to easily navigate the page.
Quick Links
Getting There
There is ample street parking downtown which is free on Sunday, as well as a variety of parking decks.
Basic Tour Information
AIA Refreshment Stop
Palladium Tour attendees are invited to explore the recently renovated AIA SC Center for Architecture space and enjoy complimentary food and beverages before, during, and after the tour.
The AIA building will be open to tour participants from 12:00 – 7:00 p.m. Tour wristbands will be required for entry; you will need to present ID if you plan to consume alcoholic beverages.
Additionally, Main Street District will be set up at the corner of Main and Hampton streets with free popsicles! Be sure to grab a cool treat between stops, but kindly only eat these outside of the properties.
Tour Stops
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Do's
- Do follow all posted signage guidelines and directions given by HC staff and volunteers.
- Do be respectful of common areas and keep voices down when moving through public corridors.
- Do wear booties when inside the properties, as directed. Please take the booties with you from house to house.
- Do respect the areas of the properties that are designated off limits. Don't open closed doors.
- Do refer to this website for "before" images and background information on the homes.
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Don'ts
- Don't use the toilets at any of the properties; there are restrooms available in AIA.
- Don't eat or drink inside the properties, and please don't sit on the furniture.
- Don't bring your pet and please don't smoke or vape on the properties.
- Don't be a bad neighbor! Please do not litter.
1546 Main Street
The oldest walls of this building were erected in 1871 as the two-story commercial building known as Irwin’s Hall; however, that building was largely demolished and rebuilt in 1916-1917 to become the three-story I. Silver and Brother’s 5c - $1.00 store. A 2002 rehabilitation removed the ca.-1970s porcelain siding, allowing for the creation of ten condos on the second and third stories. The facade seen today closely resembles the remodeled one debuted by Silver and Brother’s in 1940.
1214–1220 Taylor Street
In 1912, prolific builders Black and Coulter purchased and demolished the existing two-story, wood-frame residence located at 1220 Taylor Street. The company was one of several developers that saw the immediate block off of Main Street as the next phase of commercial real estate. By 1915, both of these buildings were announced as “almost complete” and ready for lease; however, each sat vacant initially before housing a series of businesses downstairs and at least two female tenants on the second story of 1218 Taylor. Both addresses were rehabilitated in 2023 to the storefronts as they appeared in 1946.
1530 Main Street | AIA SC
Erected in 1893 as the Canal Dime Savings Bank from plans by architect Gadsden E. Shand, this Richardsonian Romanesque landmark's first floor operated from 1936 until the mid-1990s as Eckerd’s Drug Store. The store's lunch counter was the site of a famous sit-in led by students Simon Bouie and Talmadge Neal. Today, the main floor houses AIA SC's Center for Architecture.
1500 Main Street | Historic Central National Bank
Designed by New York firm W.T. Beer & Son and constructed by Clark Waring between 1872-1873, the Central National Bank Building brought a French flair to Main Street as property owners rebuilt the commercial corridor after the Civil War. As The Daily Phoenix noted, the building’s plans presented “the handsomest edifice in the city by odds, and [it] will be highly ornamental to our Main Street.” Although other Second Empire style buildings followed, this one, known since 1905 as the Sylvan’s Building, is the only one that survives.
1520 Main Street
Completed by Tom Prioreschi and Ray Carter in 2006, this condo building demonstrated that adhering to the new City Center Design Guidelines, adopted by the City of Columbia in 1998, would result in a project that fit seamlessly with the surrounding historic building stock.
1530-A Main Street
Erected in 1893 as the Canal Dime Savings Bank from plans by architect Gadsden E. Shand, this Richardsonian Romanesque landmark's upper floors were initially outfitted as the Cherokee Club, an exclusive social organization whose elegantly arranged rooms and grand pine staircase made it a premier gathering place for Columbia businessmen in the 1890s. Later adapted for charitable, commercial, and residential use, these spaces were reconfigured into apartments in 1995 and now exist as individual condominiums that reflect their historic layout.
