Where friendliness flows

Columbia is friendliness with flair. A place where you’re sure to be greeted with a smile everywhere you go.

Enjoying more than 300 days of sunshine per year, visitors can expect Columbia to offer an exciting variety of year-round attractions to explore. You’ll find fascinating historical and cultural attractions, the award-winning Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, outdoor recreation, festivals, parks and sporting events. Water sports and nature abound as Columbia sits at the confluence of three rivers just downstream from a 50,000-acre recreational lake.

Columbia is a vibrant capitol city of South Carolina with a population of over a half million people. State government and governmental agencies are located here. The main campus of the University of South Carolina is located downtown with outstanding professional schools of business, law, medicine and a nationally recognized undergraduate Honors College.

A Brief History
Columbia was created specifically to become the centrally located capitol of South Carolina by the state's General Assembly in 1786. One of the nation's first planned cities, Columbia received its first charter as a town in 1805 and became a chartered city in 1854. In February 1865, General Sherman's Union Army took the city, destroying about three-quarters of it by fire. Economic recovery did not begin until 1876. During this period, called Reconstruction, the city revitalized itself and has not stopped growing since.

The newly renovated Columbia Metropolitan Airport provides daily flights on several major airlines so that you can get to and from Columbia from almost anywhere in the world. Driving to Columbia is also a breeze as three interstates (I-20, I-26, and I-77) intersect the city and connect the Northeast community to Camden, Florence, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and beyond. I-85 and I-95 are just a short drive away. If you're looking for someone else to do the driving, Amtrak and Greyhound also provide service to the city.