Skip to main content
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

background image

African American Heritage Sites Tour

Since its creation in 1786, Columbia has featured a large African American population whose labor, skills, and vision have been integral in the city’s physical, spiritual, and social evolution. During the course of four centuries the city’s black community transformed itself from that of a predominately enslaved population to a society whose members overcame the restrictions of Jim Crow and charted the course of the Civil Rights era. The story of this journey remains today within the home places, work places, and resting places of Columbia’s African American community.

Waypoints (43)

1/43

907 Tree Street

907 Tree Street

George Elmore Home

 

George A. Elmore and his wife, Laura, lived here from 1943 until 1954. Mr. Elmore was heavily invested in the Waverly community, running a Five and Dime store, two liquor stores, a photography business, and driving a cab. He is perhaps best known, however, for his efforts to secure African American voting rights in South Carolina's state primaries. Unfortunately, Elmore's activism, which led to the 1947 lawsuit Elmore v. Rice, resulted in threats to and economic ruin for him and his family.

  • 907 Tree

    George Elmore Home, 2018. Historic Columbia collection

  • elmore

    George Elmore. From A True Likeness, The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts: 1920-1936. © The Estate of Richard Samuel Roberts, by permission of Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina

  • George Elmore

    George Elmore. Image courtesy John H. McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

Creswell Elmore details his fathers efforts to secure African American voting rights.

  • Load More
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