“C” is for Columbia (Richland County: 2020 population 136,632). Named for Christopher Columbus and created in 1786 as the nation's first truly planned capital city, Columbia has a unique history that took shape in the wilderness near the geographic center of South Carolina. Since 1790 Columbia has continued to be a multifaceted community that defies easy classification. It is home to colleges but is clearly not a college town. It built cotton mills and acquired a huge military base but did not become either a mill town or a “soldier town.” Tourists have been welcome, but their welfare never took precedence over needs of permanent residents. If nothing else, thanks to its amorphous mix, Columbia, not its satellites with their shopping malls and endless housing tracts, defines the community that observers agree is “the Heart of the Midlands.” 

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