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1716 Wayne Street

Francis Butler, a postal clerk for the Atlantic Coastline Railway and a skilled carpenter, completed this residence in 1914. It was a replacement for his family's original home, which was destroyed by fire earlier that year. Erected for $5,000 with plans purchased from the Sears Roebuck Company, this property is representative of houses owned by many financially successful, middle-class African Americans that moved into parts of Arsenal Hill during the first few decades of the 20th century. Butler and his family lived in the home until the mid-1940s.

During the 1910s, the Seaboard Airline Railroad established what many Arsenal Hill residents referred to as "the Cut." A large trench that allowed trains to access Seaboard Park, this right-of-way became one of the neighborhood's most visible features that endure today.

  • 1716 Wayne Street

    1716 Wayne Street, 2018. Historic Columbia collection

  • sanborn 1919 arsenal hill

    "The Cut" seen crossing southeast to northwest across Arsenal Hill. Sanborn FIre Insurance Company Map. Image courtesy Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Company Collection, South Caroliniana LIbrary, University of South Carolina, Columbia

James Carter describes the "the cut" used by the Seaboard Airline and Silver Media Railways.

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Historic Columbia

© 2023 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.

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