Remembering Columbia, South Carolina: Capital City Chronicles

Columbia, South Carolina–the capital of the Palmetto State for more than 200 years–has earned a well-deserved reputation as a history-rich Southern city. Columbia has been the site of a vast array of momentous events, and those well-documented episodes in the city’s past have solidified its important historical role in the state, the South, and the country.

Columbia’s vibrant past, however, features much more than these well-documented events. The city’s history is brimming with a fascinating cast of characters whose various exploits have helped to shape and enrich the colorful story of Columbia.

Remembering Columbia, South Carolina: Capital City Chronicles, by Columbia resident and history professor Miles Richards, is a collection of historical vignettes that reveals the intriguing–but lesser known–characters and events in the city’s twentieth-century history. From South Carolina Penitentiary escapees who rode a stinking trash heap to their freedom, to a pair of amorous bootleggers, to a raucous crowd gathered to greet Rudy Vallee at the train station on Gervais Street, this collection will delight Capital City residents and visitors alike.