Plan Your Visit
Planning your visit to Historic Columbia?
📍 Start at our Welcome Center, where you can learn about our historic sites, gardens, tours, and daily offerings. The Welcome Center is also the place to purchase tour tickets, browse souvenirs, and enjoy a cold beverage. Restrooms are available in the adjacent Carriage House.
Welcome Center hours are Wednesday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. It is located east of the Robert Mills House, between the main house and the Carriage House.
Free visitor parking is available in the Robert Mills House Parking Lot on the 1600 block of Henderson Street, between Taylor and Pickens streets, with the Welcome Center located just steps away. Additional free street parking is available nearby. After parking, enter the Robert Mills House and Gardens through any open gate and follow the signs to the Welcome Center.
☀️ Summer Promotion ☀️
For every adult house tour ticket purchased online, get two free Historic Columbia postcards—that’s one to keep for your collection and one to send to a friend. For just $1, we'll even put it in the mail for you! Offer valid through August 31 with online adult historic house tour ticket purchase only, while supplies last.
Historic Columbia is proud to be a Blue Star Museum
Historic Columbia proudly participates in the Blue Star Museums program. Admission to our historic house museums is free currently serving U.S. military personnel*, including the National Guard and Reserves, in collaboration with the 2026 Blue Star Museums program. The Blue Star Museums program begins on Armed Forces Day and ends on Labor Day each year. You can redeem Blue Star Museum admission when you purchase tickets online by typing in "BlueStar26” in the discount code field or presenting appropriate identification at the Welcome Center for walk-up ticket purchases.
About Blue Star Museums
Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of War and museums across America, offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve. For a list of participating museums, visit arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
*The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States Military—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps—and up to five family members. Spouses and children of active-duty military may use this discount if they possess military identification. This program is not available to retired members of the military.#tour
Help Me Choose a Tour!
Wondering which tour is right for you? Let us help you decide or read more about each tour below.
Hampton-Preston Mansion & Gardens Robert Mills House & Gardens The Museum of Reconstruction Era at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home Mann-Simons Site Modjeska Monteith Simkins Househp
Hampton-Preston Mansion & Gardens
1615 Blanding Street | Columbia, SC 29201
One of Columbia's oldest remaining structures, the Hampton-Preston Mansion explores the lives of enslaved workers and their planter-class owners. The site is owned by Richland County and managed by Historic Columbia.
History of the Hampton Preston Mansion
Tours
Wednesday – Saturday: 10:30 a.m., 3:00 p.m. | Sunday: 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased online up until one hour prior to the tour OR at Historic Columbia's Welcome Center. rm
Robert Mills House & Gardens
1616 Blanding Street | Columbia, SC 29201
One of only five National Historic Landmarks in Columbia, the Robert Mills House showcases the skill of the architect who designed some of our nation's most prominent buildings, including the Washington Monument. The site is owned by the City of Columbia and managed by Historic Columbia.
History of the Robert Mills House
Tour Times
Wednesday – Saturday: 12:00 p.m. | Sunday: 3:00 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased online up until one hour prior to the tour OR at Historic Columbia's Welcome Center. More about The Museum of Reconstruction Era at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
The Museum of Reconstruction Era at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
1705 Hampton Street | Columbia, SC 29201
The nation's only museum dedicated to interpreting the post-Civil War Reconstruction period and South Carolina's only remaining presidential site, this distinctive circa-1871 Italian villa-style residence was home to a 14-year-old boy named "Tommy" Woodrow Wilson. The site is owned by Richland County and managed by Historic Columbia.
History of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
Tours
Wednesday – Sunday: 1:30 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased online up until one hour prior to the tour OR at Historic Columbia's Welcome Center. ms
Mann-Simons Site
1403 Richland Street | Columbia, SC 20201
While only one house stands today, the Mann-Simons Site historically was a collection of commercial and domestic spaces owned and operated by the same African American family from at least 1843 until 1970. The site is owned by the City of Columbia and managed by Historic Columbia.
History of the Mann-Simons Site
Tours
Tours of the Mann-Simons Site are available for group tours, school tours, and through special programming like the Free Sunday program. For more information about scheduling a private tour, contact reservations@historiccolumbia.org or (803) 252-1770 ext. 23. mms
Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
2025 Marion Street | Columbia, SC 29201
Built between 1890 and 1895, this one-story cottage was home to Modjeska Monteith Simkins, one of South Carolina's greatest human rights advocates, from 1932 until her death on April 5, 1992. The site is owned by the City of Columbia and managed by Historic Columbia.
History of the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
Tours
Tours of the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House are available for group tours, school tours, and through special programming like the Free Sunday program. For more information about scheduling a private tour, contact reservations@historiccolumbia.org or (803) 252-1770 ext. 23.