Columbia Canal Historical Marker
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
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.
The historical marker is situated on the southern end of the canal.
The old powerhouse was built in 1894 as part of the project to expand the canal and provide hydroelectric power to the city.
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."
Wikimedia Commons
The Historical Marker Database
Wikimedia Commons