Skip to main content

Historic Columbia is closed on Thursday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth.

Menu Close Menu

Historic Columbia

Donate
  • FAQs
Upcoming Events

Navigation

  • Tours
    • House Tours
      • Robert Mills House and Gardens
      • Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens
      • Mann-Simons Site
      • The Museum of the Reconstruction Era
      • Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
      • Hours and Pricing
    • Garden Tours
      • Garden Database
    • Offsite Tours
      • Walking Tours
    • African American History Tours
    • Online Tours
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • House Tours
    • Traveling Trunks
  • Support
    • Corporate Support
      • Additional Support Opportunities
      • Corporate Membership
      • Program & Event Sponsorship Options
    • Donate
    • Membership
      • Palladium
    • Volunteer
    • Partners and Donors
  • Rent a Venue
    • Gardens of the Hampton-Preston Mansion
    • Seibels House and Garden
    • Robert Mills Carriage House and Gardens
    • Gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
    • Weddings
    • Photoshoots
    • Contact Us
  • Research
    • Object Collection
    • Projects and Initiatives
  • Preservation
    • Preservation Awards
    • Preservation Advocacy
    • Resources and Services
    • Economic Impact Study
    • Building Richland County
  • About
    • Blog
    • Board Members
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Gift Shop at Robert Mills
      • Online Store
    • Newsletter
    • Staff Directory

Donate

  1. Home
  2. Online Tours
  3. African American Heritage Sites Tour
  4. 1530 Harden Street

1530 Harden Street

Allen University

In 1880, the AME Church moved Payne Institute from Cokesbury, SC to this site and renamed the school Allen University in honor of the church’s first bishop, the formerly enslaved Robert Allen. The church had founded Payne Institute with the “vision that Christian education and industrial training were among the imperative needs of the colored people of South Carolina,” and that the church should lead this effort.

The church erected several major buildings, including the Ladies Industrial Hall, known today as Arnett Hall (1891), Coppin Hall (1907), and the Chappelle Administration Building (1922). The latter, named for former Allen University president and AME Bishop William David Chappelle, was designed by prominent black architect John Anderson Lankford and completed in 1923 at a cost of $116,500. His plans included a chemical laboratory, printing department, shoe and tailor shop, a hospital ward capable of treating 15 to 20 patients, a 500-person dining hall, and a 2,000-person auditorium with Roman gallery, a stage with lighting, and dressing rooms. The school was strongly connected to the surrounding Waverly community, and the Chappelle Auditorium was regularly used as a meeting space for the SC NAACP during the civil rights era.

  • Allen University

    Allen University, undated. Historic Columbia collection

  • Allen University

    Allen University, 2018. Historic Columbia collection

  • Allen University

    Circa-1880 Illustration of the campus's earliest building, from the Program of the Mid-Winter Session of the Bishops' Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Columbia, S.C., February 14, 1923. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

  • Colorized postcard of Coppin Hall, circa 1915

    Colorized postcard of Coppin Hall, circa 1915. Image courtesy David and Marty Sennema

Arnett Hall

The institution’s first permanent structure, Arnett Hall, named for board of trustees’ president Reverend Benjamin Arnett, originally was known as Ladies Industrial Hall. Designed for women’s dormitories and classrooms and begun in 1891, the building was in use before its official completion in 1905. Later the building served as a men’s dormitory and industrial building. Rehabilitated in 2001, the landmark structure today accommodates the University’s administration offices.

  • Arnett Hall

    Arnett Hall, undated. Historic Columbia collection

Chappelle Auditorium

John Anderson Lankford, the United States’ first registered African American architect, designed this classically-inspired building, which honors former school president W.D. Chappelle. Administration offices, a dining hall, a mail room, an auditorium and two floors of classrooms have been contained under one roof in this landmark structure, which was built between 1922 and 1925.

  • Chappelle Hall

    Chappelle Hall, undated. Historic Columbia collection

  • Chappelle auditorium

    Chappelle Auditorium, 2018. Historic Columbia collections

Directions:

    Previous2204 Hampton Street

    Next1600 Harden Street

    NTHP Preservation Award Winner
    Historic Columbia

    © 2025 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.

    Newsletter Signup

    newsletter signup

    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for events, news, and updates from Historic Columbia!

    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Flickr
    • Privacy Policy
    Website by Cyberwoven