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Please note The Museum of the Reconstruction Era will be closed for house tours Wednesday, Feb. 1 - Friday, Feb. 3 due to garden renovations, and the Robert Mills House will be closed for tours on Thursday, Feb. 2 due to a private event on site.

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1730-1732 Main Street

Brown Building

The Charles O. Brown & Brothers Company had this Classical Revival style structure erected in 1901 following plans by the architectural firm of Sams & Carter. The hardware and builders’ supply store came to stand on land formerly occupied by a meat market and grocery. Like many of its 19th-century counterparts, this structure simultaneously contained multiple businesses. Among them were cigar, drug, grocery and furniture stores. Perhaps the most celebrated (or notorious, depending on the perspective) tenant was the UFO Coffee House, which operated from the property from January 1968 through 1970. Frequently referred to as a “hippie hangout” by municipal leaders and police officers, the venue received national publicity as one of the first pacifist coffeehouses located near a military base. Authorities shuttered the popular sub-culture destination after having it declared a public nuisance fraught with “cursing and loud noises [and] . . . marijuana.” according to The State newspaper. Today, the building appears much like it did following a renovation in 1976. 

  • The Brown Building

    Boyne and Brown buildings, 1978. Image courtesy Russell Maxey Photograph Collection, Richland Library

  • Brown Building, 1972

    Boyne and Brown buildings, 1972. Image courtesy Russell Maxey Photograph Collection, Richland Library

  • 1903 City Directory advertisement

    The Brown Company ran this advertisement in Columbia'c 1903 city directory. Image courtesy Richland Lbrary

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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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