With a centralized location on the Congaree River, a fort was established in the early 1700s. A ferry system was created by the colonial government in 1754 in order to connect local settlements. Named after Christopher Columbus (beating out a suggested name of Washington), the city of Columbia was founded in 1786, created by legislation by the General Assembly. In 1790, the capital of South Carolina was moved from Charleston to Columbia. In 1806 Columbia became the second planned capital in A...

THE BEGINNING  1917

A cold January rain fell as a group of military and civilian planners mounted a sand knoll overlooking vast acres of pineland in the Congaree Sandhills, six miles east of Columbia, South Carolina .

These planners were on a mission of prime importance to the War Department: evaluation of a site for establishment of a training center for the US Army. The chosen area was in gently rolling terrain, containing lakes and swamps, overgrown with blackjack oak and loblo...