This week’s photos from around and about Columbia
(Click/tap on photos for larger, clearer images)
Dressed for the weather
LED creeping in the historic district
There it is, creeping.
Reflections on Columbia
Brickwork at the Market House
Hubcaps
Missing plate
Shop there
Service center
Peeling and flaking paint.
The Codes Department needs to cite the Public Works Department.
Scarf bombing
Hats hangin’
More so
Violators will be persecuted. Henchmen do the dirty work.
Big hole in the ground. Now what?
New Knox in town
OUT OF SERVICE overtakes 17 COLUMBIA for the lead.
Why do people do this?
Vigilant vulture
Code violation
Goose tracks – evidence of a wild goose chase?
Heroes temporarily under snow
Door to Door Service
So ya wanna be a rural carrier?
The bank financed the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge that was burned in the Civil War, the piers of which still remain at Columbia River Park. The Federal Government owes $170 million dollars (in today’s money) for the destruction of the bridge, but don’t count on getting it any time soon – or ever. Congressman Joe Pitts tried it in 2003.
In 2003, Rep. Joe Pitts took up the cause. By then, with interest, the claim had grown to $170 million dollars. According to the Star News, August 31, 2003, he joked that he would push Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to include payment for Columbia’s lost bridge in reparations to rebuild war-damaged bridges in Iraq “just for fun.” However, White House Office of Management and Budget spokesman Trent Duffy replied that the claim had expired and added, “The bridge might have to be counted, with bravery, as Columbia’s contribution to liberty.”
Stephen Smith, once an indentured servant, eventually earned enough to buy his freedom and then established a lumber and coal business, making him one of the wealthiest African-Americans in Columbia. Smith invested $9,000 into the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge that was burned in the Civil War. A claim was filed with the Federal Government, but the money was never repaid, as noted in the previous caption.
Stephen Smith was ordained as a minister in the Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church on South 5th Street, shown above.
Smith was ordained in 1831, but this church building was not built until 1872.
And rebuilt in 1921
Front view of the church
The memorial plaque for Stephen Smith is in the lower left.
Just in time for Christmas – next Christmas
Columbia Spy 