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S. 700

STATUS INFORMATION

Senate Resolution
Sponsors: Senators Jackson, Alexander, Anderson, Bright, Bryant, Campbell, Campsen, Cleary, Coleman, Courson, Cromer, Davis, Elliott, Fair, Ford, Grooms, Hayes, Hutto, Knotts, Land, Leatherman, Leventis, Lourie, Malloy, L. Martin, S. Martin, Massey, Matthews, McConnell, McGill, Nicholson, O'Dell, Peeler, Pinckney, Rankin, Reese, Rose, Ryberg, Scott, Setzler, Sheheen, Shoopman, Thomas, Verdin and Williams
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24727ac11.docx

Introduced in the Senate on March 16, 2011
Adopted by the Senate on March 16, 2011

Summary: Mayor Steve Benjamin

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   3/16/2011  Senate  Introduced and adopted (Senate Journal-page 14)

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/16/2011

TO CELEBRATE THE OCCASION OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE CITY OF COLUMBIA, AND TO CONGRATULATE AND COMMEND MAYOR STEVE BENJAMIN, THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND THE CITIZENS OF COLUMBIA FOR TWO AND A QUARTER CENTURIES OF DISPLAYING THE CHARM AND STRENGTH OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S CAPITAL CITY.

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate is pleased to join the City of Columbia in celebrating the milestone of its two hundred twenty-fifth anniversary on March 22, 2011; and

Whereas, a natural spot for a trading center as early as 1718, the location of the river systems of the Carolina midlands made it the state's obvious center for trade, transportation, governmental affairs, cultural enhancement, and manufacturing; and

Whereas, centered within the waters of the Broad, Congaree, Saluda, and Santee rivers, Columbia was founded by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1786, making it the new capital of the State; and

Whereas, as historian Walter Edgars recounts in South Carolina: A History, "During the course of the debate in the state Senate, Arnoldus Vanderhorst of Christ Church Parish snidely suggested that the new capital in the wilderness be called the 'Town of Refuge' because it was beyond the pale of the law. To this, John Lewis Gervais of Saxe Gotha riposted that he hoped the oppressed of every land might find refuge under the wings of Columbia"; and

Whereas, one of the first planned towns in the United States, the capital was designed to be two square miles with the two principal, intersecting streets one hundred fifty feet wide and the remaining streets one hundred feet wide spaced ten streets per mile; and

Whereas, the streets were named for Revolutionary War generals, Continental generals who fought in the State, South Carolina statesmen and heroes, and citizens of the newly-formed city; and

Whereas, in 1818 to improve transportation in the State, South Carolina allocated sizable funds to construct the Columbia Canal, over three miles long, and completed it in 1924; with the advent of the railroad, the Canal became a source for hydroelectricity; and

Whereas, the first State to secede from the Union, South Carolina signed the Order of Secession in Columbia in 1860, and during the Civil War years, the city's population grew from eight thousand to twenty thousand with its training academy, prisoner-of-war camps, Confederate offices, and army hospitals; and

Whereas, during Sherman's infamous scourge of the South, eighty-four of the city's one hundred twenty-four blocks were burned to the ground; and

Whereas, as the city rebuilt and the population grew, the Columbia Street Railway Company purchased six streetcars and some thirty horses in 1886 for a four-mile rail line, but this transportation was replaced several years later with electric streetcars; and

Whereas, home today of the southeast's premiere zoo and botanical gardens, Columbia boasts some of the finest examples of antebellum architecture such as the Hampton-Preston Mansion and the Robert Mills House; the state museum; and the Mann-Simons Cottage, serving as a Museum for African-American Culture; and

Whereas, mill villages, such as Olympia Mills, as well as other local communities retained their unique identities over the years as the City of Columbia expanded around them, and in recent years the city limits have expanded to cover a large part of both Richland and Lexington counties; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are grateful during Columbia's quasquibicentennial celebration for the contributions that the City of Columbia makes to the Palmetto State and for the exceptional leadership of Mayor Steve Benjamin and the Columbia City Council members: Sam Davis, Tameika Devine, Daniel J. Rickenmann, Dr. Belinda Gergel, Leona Plaugh, and Brian DeQuincey Newman. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, celebrate the occasion of the two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the City of Columbia, and congratulate and commend Mayor Steve Benjamin, the city council members, and the citizens of Columbia for two and a quarter centuries of displaying the charm and strength of South Carolina's capital city.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Mayor Steve Benjamin.

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