1831 Taylor Street
1831 Taylor StreetLeevy’s Funeral Home
Kershaw native Isaac Samuel “I.S.” Leevy, Jr. moved to Columbia in 1907, where he operated a tailoring shop and Leevy’s Department Store, which sold clothing and dry goods. After marrying in 1909, his wife, Mary, became his business partner. They purchased this property in the early 1920s and opened Leevy’s Service Station and Garage in 1928 and Leevy’s Funeral Home in 1934.
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Leevy’s Funeral Home, 2018. Historic Columbia collection
Leevy, a civic leader in the black community for six decades, co-founded the Columbia branch of the NAACP, Victory Savings Bank, and the SC Race Relations Commission. He was a leader of the Republican Party until switching parties in 1964. From 1950 until 1955, the filling station appeared in the Negro Travelers’ Green Book, a guide that helped African Americans navigate segregated spaces in the United States safely. Leevy’s Funeral Home remains family-run to this day.