1412 Main Street
Site of H. Bamberg, Cigar Manufacturer
Henry Bamberg (1857-1919), a German immigrant who lived in Columbia for more than 35 years, operated a cigar manufacturing and wholesale business at this location from 1897 until 1901. Prior to this, Bamberg operated a store at 1325 Main Street. There, he produced a “deservedly popular and widely known line of Havana and domestic cigars,” which he distributed throughout the state as well as New York. Bamberg also served as a mentor to Isidor Cassel (1872-1954), who arrived in Columbia in 1892. Cassel married Bamberg’s sister-in-law in 1896 and later opened his own successful cigar manufacturing business. Bamberg’s only son, Jacob Solomon Bamberg (1889-1953), served in World War I and later worked for his uncle’s business for 28 years.
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Advertisement found in the 1901 Columbia City Directory. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina
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Bamberg’s cigar factory can be seen to the rear of his tobacco shop in the 1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance map. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina
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Bamberg was active in Columbia’s Jewish community and served as the first treasurer of the Tree of Life Congregation. Reprinted from The Tree of Life: Fifty Years of Congregational Life at the Tree of Life Synagogue, Columbia, S.C by Helen Kohn Hennig
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Isidor Cassel (1872-1954). Reprinted from The Tree of Life: Fifty Years of Congregational Life at the Tree of Life Synagogue, Columbia, S.C by Helen Kohn Hennig
