Three blocks of Main Street between Laurel and Hampton Streets form the Columbia Commercial Historic District, a historic slice of the central business district of Columbia, South Carolina. You face three blocks of Main Street between Laurel and Hampton Streets, and you can pick out the full length of Main Street’s east side running through these blocks. On the west side note that only the central block — between Blanding and Taylor Streets — is included here, and that the district extends slightly south of Taylor.
You will also see individual buildings on adjacent streets that contribute to this compact story of growth. This stretch best illustrates the city’s commercial and economic growth for a century, from the end of the American Civil War to about 1963, and within it a broad diversity of architectural styles is gathered in a small area. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and has been enlarged twice; nine of the district’s 36 buildings are also individually listed.
From the end of the Civil War to about 1963, a century of commerce built these east-side façades along Main Street and the west block between Blanding and Taylor, and the district's 36 buildings still tell the story.