I made it a goal to visit all the museums in Columbia, SC, while I was here for almost three months house sitting. I’ve visited (almost) every museum in the area, and I present them to you below in a loose ranking, according to my own interests.
Click on the museum names below for complete reviews about each museum.
South Carolina State Museum
The museum to rule them all is definitely the South Carolina State Museum. It’s like four museums in one – art, natural history, cultural history, and science & technology. PLUS, there’s a planetarium, an observatory, and a fun 4D theater. It definitely takes a whole day, and there’s even a cafe for lunch. I visited twice to see everything!
Admission isn’t even that much – $8.95 for adults, $7.95 for seniors 62 and over, and $6.95 for children 12 and under. Add up to two planetarium or 4D shows for a max cost of $16.95. Parking is free.
Robert Mills House & Historic Columbia
Historic Columbia maintains four houses in Columbia’s historic district, the Robert Mills House, the Hampton-Preston mansion, The Museum of Reconstruction Era at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home, and the Manns-Simons Site. Each house has its own interesting story and I learned a LOT about Columbia history just by touring these homes. The gardens are phenomenal as well, and you can visit those almost anytime for free.
Guided tours of the houses cost $10 each, or less if you buy more than one at a time (or they start to recognize you.) Tours of each house are only twice a week right now, once during the week and once on the weekend. (I prefer the weekday volunteers, they’re just so glad to be back!) There’s also a guided garden tour once a month, which is also $10. Parking is free in a small lot off Henderson Street.
Columbia Museum of Art
The Columbia Museum of Art is a delight. There’s a large rotating gallery on the first floor and a lightly confusing warren of galleries on the second – take a map! The temporary exhibit during my visit was about M.C. Escher, and it was fascinating. I expect the upcoming exhibit on underground art from the Soviet Union will be equally engaging.
Admission for the Art Museum is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65+ and military (part of the Blue Star Museums program), and $5 for students and youth 7-18. Kids 6 and under are free. Admission is free for everyone on the first Thursday of every month. It’s downtown, so parking is in a garage or on the street.
Lexington County Museum
The Lexington County Museum, located about 30 minutes from downtown Columbia, has a collection of pioneer buildings that tell the story of the area’s earliest days. The oldest cabins are from 1770-1771, up to the mid-1800’s in the Fox House, the only original building on the 6-acre campus.
$5 buys you a fully-guided one-hour tour, just make sure to book it in advance, at least right now. If it’s a nice day outside, it’s a wonderful way to spend an hour. Parking is free in a small lot at the tour office.
McKissick Museum
The McKissick Museum is a free museum on the University of South Carolina campus, located right at the top of the historic horseshoe in a beautiful historic building. It’s a touch confusing to navigate, but you’ll be rewarded with some quirky and interesting natural history, folk art, and rotating exhibits. They have a large folk art collection, and you can inquire more about it in the Folklife Resource Center in the basement (which is where you should start your tour anyway.)
Admission is free, but you still have to register to visit so they can limit attendance. That didn’t seem to be a problem during my Sunday visit – I was the only one there! Parking is on the street around the school, or there is a small lot by the side entrance of the building, which is the one you should use for the museum anyway.
Cayce Historical Museum
The Cayce Historical Museum is located only 12 minutes from downtown Columbia. It’s an interesting collection of local artifacts from this crossroads town, housed in a recreation of its old trading post. George Washington even passed through on his way to Columbia (which you also hear about at the Lexington County Museum – they preserved a small building just because he hung out there for a bit.) There’s also an impressive collection of Native American artifacts.
$3 buys you a fully-guided tour that lasts about 30 minutes. Parking is free at the Municipal Building, and there are a few outbuildings to walk around.
Governor’s Mansion Complex
The Governor’s Mansion Complex might have ranked a bit higher had I been able to take a tour. As it is, there are some beautiful gardens to walk around, like rooms leading into each other. Two smaller historic homes are also on the block, used mostly for offices and event rentals.
The area is free to visit from 9-5 during the week, and I think tours are free as well, and limited to the 10-11 am hour and only certain days (when they’re running.) Parking is on the surrounding streets.
South Carolina Military Museum
The South Carolina Military Museum is only about half-open right now, with their largest gallery closed for refurbishment. What’s open is interesting, however, and free to visit. It’s tricky to find – behind another military building and a checkpoint, but it’s worth the effort and a way to get indoors during a hot or rainy day. Parking is free as well.
Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum
The Confederate Relic Room is housed in the same historic cotton mill that holds the SC State Museum, though it has a separate admission price. This was the most problematic museum for me. You can tell it was collected with a Lost Cause narrative in mind and some emphasis on “look what the Federal army did to us” grievance bearing. It is Columbia’s oldest museum, and since its move into its current location in 2001-2002, the narrative has been reframed to include some African-American experience and more military history, including a neat model of the USS Columbia, the “gem of the ocean.” But still, being surrounded by so many lovingly preserved Confederate flags – collected immediately after the war by sore losers – made my skin crawl. I know we need to preserve this history, especially in South Carolina who seceded first and started the whole thing.
Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors (62+), military and veterans, $3 for ages 10-17, and free for 9 and under. Or add it on to your State Museum ticket for $4. Parking is free.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame
I liked visiting the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame a bit more than I thought I would! It gives a solid but concise overview of policing history in America and some of its moments in pop culture. In addition, a spiffy gun collection from famous 1930’s G-Man Melvin Purvis, a restored 1955 Ford police car, and some fun historical tools, badges, and confiscated items make it more interesting than just a memorial space.
Visiting is free, both free admission and free parking. Though head to the “back” of the building for the front door, the side away from the main road. There are some unhelpful arrows near the parking area that point in opposite directions (though I suppose you could go the other way around the buildings as well!)
Columbia Fire Museum
The Columbia Fire Museum is still closed due to Covid, but it has glass walls, so I peeked inside a little. It looks like a fun collection of old fire equipment, including several fire engines. Once it does open, it’s free to tour weekdays 8:30 am-5 pm and weekends by appointment.
Parking is free on Barnwell Street, near the intersection with Laurel. There are a few parking spots on the street reserved for the museum. It’s attached to a big fire station, so beware that Google will take you straight to the big driveway on Laurel where the fire trucks come out, so don’t park there, whatever you do.
Some I Missed
EdVenture Children’s Museum
I confess I did not visit the EdVenture Children’s Museum, which shares a parking lot with the SC State Museum. (It’s like a whole museum complex in that one spot!) For about $12 per person, you and your kids can explore the physics and future of flight, a pretend veterinary clinic, a maker’s workshop, a fire station, a newsroom, a science lab, and a changing exhibit – currently Snowvill with slides and “snow tubing.” Plus, the “world’s largest 10-year-old” is in the lobby, and you can climb all over him. Parking is free.
U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum
The Army Basic Training Museum is a small free museum in Fort Jackson, about 7 miles/19 minutes from central downtown Columbia. I attempted a visit, but they aren’t letting anyone who isn’t military onto the base right now, so no luck for me. But the (pretty cute) officer at the gate was nice about it.
And I can’t say I’m too sad. My minimal interest in military history was pretty well exhausted by the two military museums I already visited. And basic training? It sounds like something you want to visit only if you’re thinking of going through the process yourself. Still, it looks like a nice campus, and it might have been nice to see Fort Jackson. But so far, I’ve only hit up that side of town for excellent barbeque and cupcakes.
Be First to Comment