The Garden Club of South Carolina established this historic memorial garden in Columbia, the South Carolina Memorial Garden, in 1944–1945. The garden was designed by noted landscape architect Loutrel W. Briggs (1893–1977) and was the first memorial garden sponsored by a state garden club in the United States that recognized veterans of World War II. Walk slowly and you will notice the composition of elements added in the years after its founding: walls and gates dated 1948, a tool house or gardener's shed from 1949–1951, a fountain terrace and fountain placed in 1951–1952, sculpture from 1952 and 1954, and a gate house or tea room completed in 1957, along with walks and garden furniture that complete the design.
Each feature is part of Briggs's plan and the Garden Club's work to give form to remembrance. The site’s historic significance was recognized when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Walls and gates from 1948, the fountain terrace of 1951–1952, and the sculptures of 1952 and 1954 each carry Briggs's plan for remembrance a little further along the walks.