Clio Logo

Columbia Canal Historical Marker

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This historical marker commemorates the Columbia Canal, which was built between 1820 and 1824 to bypass the rapids where the Broad, Saluda, and Congaree Rivers meet. The canal was expanded in 1891 to provide hydroelectric power to the city as well as textile mills, including the nearby Columbia Mill building, which is now the South Carolina State Museum. The Columbia Canal contributed significantly to the city's industrial and commercial growth and is a good example of 19th-century engineering. The marker is located at the southern end of the canal. The canal still provides electric power to the city and is also used for recreation.

Images

The Columbia Canal was built between 1820-1894 and expanded in 1891. It was key to Columbia's economic development in the 19th century.

Land lot, Urban design, Black-and-white, Thoroughfare

The historical marker is situated on the southern end of the canal.

Plant, Sky, Daytime, Property

The old powerhouse was built in 1894 as part of the project to expand the canal and provide hydroelectric power to the city.

Water, Sky, Brick, Building

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The canal was 12 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep at the northern end and about 18 feet wide and four feet deep at the southern end. Each side had eight-foot wide towpaths along each side. The canal's four locks (there was a guard lock as well) allowed boats to bypass the 34-foot drop of waterfalls. Until railroads arrived in Columbia in 1842, the canal was the most important means of transportation to and from the city. But even after the railroads came, local businesses continued to use the canal and it provided hydraulic water power to small industries.

Columbia Canal was the state's most profitable canal as it provided the key water transportation link between the northern part of the state to Charleston. It is estimated that around $2 million dollars of goods moved through the canal in 1827. In 1833, over 66,000 bales of cotton and over 1,000 boats passed through the canal. Beginning in 1868, the canal became a source of drinking water after U.S. Senator William Sprague IV bought it. Sprague convinced the city to make this change. However the company in charge of providing the water, the Columbia Water Power Company, failed to properly filter the water and overcharged residents. Sprague also told the city he would alter the canal to provide water power to textile mills. He never did and ultimately went bankrupt.

It appears by the 1880s, the state had acquired the canal and decided to enlarge it as part of plan to encourage industrial development. The work was finished in 1891 and it did promote the establishment of mills and factors in Columbia. Near the historical marker is the old powerhouse, which appears to have been built in 1894. It provided power to the city and the Columbia Mill, which became one of the first (if not the first) textile mills in the country to run on hydroelectric power. The South Carolina Electric and Gas Company currently owns the canal.

Sources

"A History of the Columbia Canal." Cola Today. August 17, 2020. https://colatoday.6amcity.com/history-columbia-canal.

Burr, Julie. "Columbia Canal." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. January 15, 1979. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e1df0eac-259a-48c2-8038-20279f518a6c.

"Columbia Canal." The Historical Marker Project. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=11319.

"Columbia Canal." SC Picture Project. Accessed April 24, 2021. https://www.scpictureproject.org/richland-county/columbia-canal.html.

"South Carolina Canals - Columbia Canal."

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Wikimedia Commons

The Historical Marker Database

Wikimedia Commons

Additional Information