EdVenture

The Best Friend of Charleston was a steam-powered railroad locomotive widely considered the first locomotive to be built entirely within the United States for revenue service. It produced the first locomotive boiler explosion in the United States.

The South Carolina State Museum has four floors of permanent and changing exhibits, a digital dome planetarium (opened in 2014), 4D interactive theater and an observatory (both opened in 2014). The State Museum, is located along the banks of the Congaree River in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. It is the largest museum in the state, and is a Smithsonian Affiliate and part of the American Alliance of Museums. Positioned on an old shipping canal (Columbia Canal) that dates back to pre-Civil War times, the museum is widely recognized as a resource for South Carolina history and lifestyle. The museum opened on October 29, 1988, and is housed in what it calls its largest artifact, the former Columbia Mills Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. When the mill opened in 1894, manufacturing cotton duck cloth (a canvas-like material), it was the first totally electric textile mill in the world. It was also the first major industrial installation for the General Electric corporation. On certain levels of the museum, the original flooring has been kept intact, distinguishable by hundreds of textile brads and rings (that carried the threads during the spinning process) that became embedded in the floor while it was still being used as a mill. The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum is located within the Columbia Mills Building, and is the oldest museum exhibit (est. 1896) in Columbia. The museum represents four disciplines: art, cultural history, science and technology, and natural history. Exhibits include life-size replicas of the Best Friend of Charleston- the first American-built locomotive in 1830; and the Civil War's H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. The second floor on natural history is notable for its recreation of a 3.6-million-year-old megalodon, named Finn, suspended mid-air just around a corner, which has scared countless groups of young children, and for a life-size Columbian mammoth (which was once native to SC). There is also the Lipscomb art gallery on the first floor, which features an iron gate made by Charleston's Philip Simmons. And there is the Cotton Mill Exchange gift shop with South Carolina souvenirs and books. The museum has the Crescent Café with sandwiches. The museum has a 1989 mural of the nearby Gervais Street Bridge by Columbia's Blue Sky (artist) in a room next to the Café. It has topiary sculpted by Bishopville's Pearl Fryar in the parking lot. The Stringer Discovery Center for small children opened in 1997. The museum has an "Official" Story Chair (named Sammy) designed and donated by Storyteller Mike Miller (greatstoryteller.com) for the benefit of children and storytellers. Travelling exhibitions at the State Museum have included Body Worlds Vital in 2012, Titanic: the Artifact Exhibition (100 yr. anniversary) in '12, Secrets of the Maya in '12, King Tut in '13 and '03, Dinosaurs: A Bite Out of Time in '14, Julius Caesar: Roman Military Might in '15, "RACE: Are We So Different?" in '16, Savage Ancient Seas in '17, the 2017 Solar Eclipse in Columbia in the observatory, The Wizard of Oz in '17 for Halloweeen, Hall of Heroes (superheroes) in '19, 50 Years of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing (with items from SC astronaut Charles Duke) in '19, Sherlock Holmes: the International Exhibition in '20 (with items from the Museum of London), "Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the US, 1492-1570" (for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery) in '90, WWII and SC in '91 (for 50 years since the Pearl Harbor attack), "Rock, Roll, and Remember: Hootie & the Blowfish and Other SC Greats" in '97, The World of Insects in '98, Star Trek: The Exhibition in '99, The Magic School Bus in '99, Inside Africa in '04, Prehistoric Predators in '04, Napoleon Bonaparte in '06, Aliens: Worlds of Possibilities in '07, Leonardo da Vinci in '08, an '08 exhibit on several of the movies (like The Patriot and Forrest Gump) filmed in SC ("Hollywood Comes to South Carolina"), "Football in the Palmetto State, 1889-2000" in '08, Pirates in 2010, and 150 years of the Civil War in SC in 2011.

Confederate Printing Plant is a historic industrial building located at Columbia, South Carolina. It was built in 1864, and is a large two-story, Greek Revival style brick structure. Originally it was a one-story structure, but enlarged to two-stories after the building was burned in February 1865 by General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army. It was built by the Evans and Cogswell Company for the manufacture of Confederate bonds and other printing purposes. During the 20th century, it was used as a liquor warehouse by the South Carolina Dispensary and is presently used as a Publix grocery store and residential condominiums.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

WPCO (1230 AM, "94.9 The Palm") was a radio station in Columbia, South Carolina. Last Owned by Alpha Media, it broadcast an adult album alternative (AAA) format. Its studios were on Pineview Road in Columbia, with a transmitter tower located near Bicentennial Park along the Congaree River in downtown Columbia.

Gervais Street Bridge is a historic bridge in South Carolina in the United States and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is an arch bridge constructed from reinforced concrete. Construction began in 1926 and the bridge was completed in 1928. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. This is the third bridge to be built on this site across the Congaree River. The first, built around 1827, was burned down in the American Civil War and the second, built in 1870, was replaced by the current bridge. At the time of its construction it was the widest roadway in the state. It was the only bridge across the Congaree River until 1953.

The South Carolina Penitentiary (renamed the Central Correctional Institution in 1965) was the state of South Carolina's first prison. Completed in 1867, the South Carolina Penitentiary served as the primary state prison for nearly 130 years until its demolition in 1999. It was located adjacent to the Congaree River in Columbia, South Carolina and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1996. It was replaced by the Lee Correctional Institution as the main prison in the state of South Carolina after the prison was deemed too overcrowded by a federal court.

The Miller Brothers Cotton Warehouse is a historic cotton warehouse at 705 Gervais St. in Columbia, South Carolina. It is a low-profile single-story brick building, set at an angle to the street, in a city district historically occupied by many similar buildings. Built in 1872, its orientation is due to the presence of railroad tracks (no longer extant) on either side of the parcel. Its first major owners were the Miller Brothers, dealers in cotton; it has been used to house foodstuffs and electrical equipment in its long history of use.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

New Brookland Historic District is a national historic district located at West Columbia, Lexington County, South Carolina. It encompasses 23 contributing buildings in the central business district and the "mill village" sections of West Columbia. It includes commercial, institutional, and residential buildings built between 1894 and 1916 as a planned residential community for the Columbia Duck Mill. Notable buildings include the Edward W. Shull Building, Thompson Funeral Home, Brookland Fire Station, Brookland Jail, and single and double tenant houses.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Columbia station is a train station in Columbia, South Carolina. It is served by Amtrak's Silver Star train. The street address is 850 Pulaski Street. The station opened in 1991, replacing the 1903-built Seaboard Air Line station two blocks east.

New Brookland Tavern is a bar and music venue located in West Columbia, South Carolina. New Brookland Tavern is one of, if not the oldest, continuous running music venues in the Columbia area. It is known for presenting live music 365 days a year. They have an annual New Year's Eve cover show, Emo Nights with 2000s music, and comedy nights. It takes its name from the previous name for West Columbia.

West Gervais Street Historic District is a national historic district located at Columbia, South Carolina. The district encompasses 40 contributing buildings in a commercial, warehouse, and light industrial section of Columbia. They date from about 1846 to the 1930s. Notable buildings include the W. H. Gibbes Machinery Co. and Carriage Works, Seaboard Air Line Railroad Passenger Depot, and Seaboard Air Line Railroad Baggage Room.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI) is a conservative think tank in South Carolina. The organization was formerly named the Palmetto Fort Foundation and the Palmetto Policy Forum.