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The Robert Mills House will be closed to the public on Wednesday, March 22, through Sunday, March 26, 2023. Regular tours will resume on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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2300 Greene Street

Martin Luther King Jr. Park

Central to today's Lower Waverly and Old Shandon neighborhoods that surround it, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, under different names, has been a community landmark since the founding of Shandon, Columbia's first planned suburb, in 1893. Shandon's developers believed the key to ensuring their suburb's success lay in building residences and in creating public destinations. Initially known as Shandon Pavilion, this public green space was intended as a resort with a casino, bathhouses, and sporting opportunities for seasonal tourists. Accessible by trolley by 1894, Valley Park (as it was renamed by 1895) became a favorite recreational area for whites only until integration in the 1950s. In 1993, the park was assigned its current name in honor of the nation's most celebrated civil rights leader.

  • MLK park

    Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 2018. Historic Columbia collection

  • 1895 map

    Detail from Map of Columbia, SC and Suburbs, 1895, by Niernsee & Lamotte. Image courtesy South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

  • Valley Park building 1966

    The park's early building photographed during a public health inoculation clinic, August 1966. Image courtesy Joseph Winter Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

  • Valley Park

    Children at Valley Park. Image courtesy Warner Montgomery, previously published in Shandon Memories

  • Valley Park

    Sports teams were among the favorite pastimes at Valley Park. Image courtesy Warner Montgomery, previously published in Shandon Memories

  • Valley Park

    Sports teams were among the favorite pastimes at Valley Park. Image courtesy Warner Montgomery, previously published in Shandon Memories

Warner Montgomery describes playing in Valley Park.

Delores Frazier recalls her efforts to desegregate Valley Park.

Durham Carter shares the reality of segregated space.

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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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