1601 Richland Street

Seibels House and Gardens

Purportedly the oldest remaining building in Columbia, a portion of the Seibels House is believed to date to 1796. Various owners adapted the house to meet their needs, especially the Seibels family, which acquired the property in 1858. The building’s Colonial Revival style dates to a 1920s renovation designed by architect J. Carroll Johnson. Historic Columbia Foundation received the property as a gift in 1988 and uses the building for its administrative headquarters and as a rental property.

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Seibels House, 2013. Historic Columbia collection
Seibels House, 2013. Historic Columbia collection

Kitchen Dependency

Seibels House retains an important link to the era in which enslaved African Americans played an integral role in the daily operations of white households. Built sometime during the late 1820s to early 1830s, the property's flanker functioned as a kitchen, a laundry, and most likely living quarters for enslaved domestic workers. Archaeological investigations within the building and surrounding yard have provided insight into food ways and material culture associated with 19th-century enslaved Columbians.

Seibels House Kitchen Dependency, 1919. Image courtesy Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

Site of 1613 Richland Street

Between 1883 and 1895, Edwin G. Seibels, co-founder of the Seibels-Bruce Insurance Company, erected 1613 Richland Street, a two-story residence and auto garage. During the 1920s, the family demolished this building (outlined in red) to expand the gardens surrounding their earlier home, then listed as 1603 Richland Street.

1613 Richland Street, 1919. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

Seibels House and Gardens

Kitchen Dependency

Site of 1613 Richland Street

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