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The Robert Mills House will be closed to the public on Wednesday, March 22, through Sunday, March 26, 2023. Regular tours will resume on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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Monuments on the South Carolina State House Grounds

background image

Monuments

on the South Carolina State House Grounds

Historically Complex: The Podcast

Introducing Historically Complex, a new podcast on the complicated histories of key monuments on the South Carolina State House grounds -- now available to stream and download on our website or your favorite podcast service!

Stream the Episodes

Since Columbia’s founding in 1786, the grounds of the South Carolina State House have grown from a 4-acre site bounded by Richardson (Main), Gervais, Assembly, and Senate streets into a 22-acre complex featuring 7 buildings and more than 30 monuments. South Carolinians have constructed, altered, and reconsidered this space for more than 230 years—and continue to do so today. In 2019, architectural historian Lydia Mattice Brandt, Ph.D. undertook a comprehensive survey of this built landscape. Her research serves as the basis for this new web-based tour, available below. If you would like to do your own research on the monuments (and to find out more from the sources used to create this website), visit our bibliography page.

This project was made possible with generous support from
SC Humanities and the Richland County Conservation Commission.


  • South Carolina Humanities organization logo
  • Richland County Conservation Commission organization logo

Explore the Grounds

  • Buildings & Landscape

    City of Columbia Bicentennial Time Capsule
    Capitol Complex Marker
    Edgar A. Brown Building
    John C. Calhoun State Office Building
    L. Marion Gressette Building
    Liberty Bell Replica 
    Old State House Marker
    Rembert C. Dennis Building
    Solomon Blatt Building
    South Carolina State House 
    Tribute Grove
    Wade Hampton State Office Building

  • People

    African American History Monument 
    Benjamin Ryan Tillman Monument 
    George Washington Monument 
    Grave of Swanson Lunsford 
    James Francis Byrnes Monument 
    Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway Marker  
    Monument to Dr. J. Marion Sims
    Profiles of Robert Young Hayne and George McDuffie 
    Richardson Square Marker 
    Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway Marker 
    South Carolina Law Enforcement Memorial 
    Strom Thurmond Monument 
    Wade Hampton III Monument 

     

  • War

    Gun from the USS Maine 
    Mount for Spanish Cannon
    Palmetto Regiment Monument
    Partisan Generals Monument
    South Carolina Armed Forces Monument
    South Carolina Monument to the Confederate Dead
    South Carolina Monument to the Women of the Confederacy
    Spanish American War Veterans Monument
    Stars and Inscriptions on the State House 

  • State House 1904

  • grounds 1904

Take the Tour

Online Tour

Walking Tour

Historically Complex: The Podcast

What do the monuments represent? How can we know? Historically Complex, a new podcast, peels back the layers on the history represented at the South Carolina State House.

Stream the Episodes

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Historic Columbia

© 2023 Historic Columbia

Administrative Offices
1601 Richland Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Tours
All historic house and garden tours start at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills.
1616 Blanding Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Questions? Call (803) 252-7742.

Website by Cyberwoven