Columbia Museums and Galleries Tour (Self Guided), Columbia

Columbia Fire Museum is a place where unfolded the whole history of firefighting in the town from the 1800s till the present day. The whole exhibition includes materials that relate information about the most dangerous fire from that period, along with different tools used during a fire and in a fire engine in 1929. There are also photos taken in different years that present different cases of fire, a horse-drawer streamer from 1903 and other scenarios. All these materials are very important for the history of this city and for those young people that would like to choose this profession in their future; they need to see and better understand all the pros and cons.

Operation Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 am - 5 pm;

The Hale-Elmore-Seibels House or Seibels House is a historic building located in Columbia. Records of the exact year of its construction were destroyed in 1865 during the burning of the city by Union soldiers serving under General William Tecumseh Sherman. The best guess for the date of construction stems from a purported "1796" carved into a beam in the basement. Much of the early history of the house is uncertain, but it is thought to be the oldest building in Columbia. Located at 1601 Richland Street, the house is the headquarters of the Historic Columbia Foundation, and is open to the public as a museum. Its extensive restored garden serves as the backdrop for wedding receptions and other events.

Operation hours: Monday – Friday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Mann-Simons Cottage is a house transformed into a museum. It is owned by a midwife, Celia Mann, who was the first African-American woman in Columbia to own property before the Civil War. This was the early nineteenth century and was therefore important news for all African-American people. It is a beautiful white house that has been transformed up until today, with new rooms being added. It has a beautiful interior and has rooms arranged in accordance with that period, with white curtains, a wooden closet colored black, a fireplace and a kitchen full of necessary items with old lamps.

The Columbia Museum of Art has a collection of European and American fine and decorative art that spans several centuries. The museum building was transformed from an urban department store into a light-filled space with 25 galleries. The museum has a Renaissance and Baroque collection – a gift from the Samuel Kress Foundation, which features Old Master paintings, many of which were commissioned by churches in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries. Nativity scenes, Madonna and Child paintings, and scenes from the Old and New Testaments are featured in the museum's upstairs galleries. The museum also has a large and rare Nativity fresco transferred to canvas by Sandro Botticelli, a pre-eminent Florentine Renaissance artist.

Also in the museum’s permanent collection are Claude Monet's The Seine at Giverny and art glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The decorative arts holdings at the museum number around 3,000 objects, ranging in date primarily between the 17th and 20th centuries. Some Asian objects in the Turner Collection date back to the T'ang Dynasty. Holdings include silver, Chinese export porcelain, contemporary art glass, American furniture, textiles and sculpture.

Opening hours: Monday-Closed; Tuesday- Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

McKissick Museum is housed by the College of Art and Science of University of South Carolina. It has collections of different types of minerals, silver from the 18th century, gemstones and other types of stones that were found in the southwest part of the USA. It also exposes natural sciences, history and art materials related to mineral collections. There is a collection of pottery from the 20th century that was amassed by slaves. All these exhibitions are very valuable for the history of the nation's formation, fascinating for those that come and see them.

Operation Hours: Monday - Friday: 8.30 am - 5 pm; Saturday: 11 am - 3 pm;

City Art is a local and small but very important gallery for regional artists. It is important because it exposes the most talented and impressive works of local artists. This gallery enables unknown talented people to become known not only in the city or country but in the whole world, because thanks to foreigners, all these people become known. Every year they organize “Emerging Artists of the Southeast” and these represent series of exhibitions presented in this gallery. This is meant to thank all the artists for their contribution in the development of art.

One Eared Cow Glass is a gallery that presents pieces of art from glass. All models of vases, bowls, paperweights and bottles are hand made by glass sculptors and can be admired by people. The masters use some old techniques that date back thousands of years. Each of the pieces is individual and unique. All these models capture the eye due to their shapes, models and colors. The lighting bar helps people to admire these beautiful pieces more attentively and meticulously.

Operation Hours: Monday - Friday: 9 am - 5 pm; Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm;

EdVenture is the largest children's museum in the Southeast, located in Columbia. It opened to the public in 2003 and has 8 galleries covering 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2), plus hands-on exhibits, 2 resource centers, and a 200-seat theater. 40,000 square feet (4,000 m2) of the total 67,000 square feet (6,200 m2) is devoted to exhibit galleries, laboratories and visitor amenities. An additional 7,000 square feet (700 m2) of outdoor gallery space is located just outside the museum's front door. Within the total 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) there are approximately 350 individual hands-on exhibits. There is also a statue of 'Eddie' on the first floor of the museum which children can climb into and learn about the insides of people. It is located at 211 Gervais Street in midtown Columbia, next to the South Carolina State Museum.

Operation hours: Monday – Sunday: 9 a.m.– 5 p.m.

The South Carolina State Museum, located in Columbia is the largest museum in the Southeastern United States. Positioned on an old shipping canal on the Congaree River 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 October 29, 1988 and is housed in what it calls its largest artifact, the former Columbia Mills Building. 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 became embedded in the floor while it was still being used as a mill.

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, and the H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. The second floor is notable for its recreation of a Megalodon suspended mid-air just around a corner, which has scared countless groups of young children. The museum has an "Official" Story Chair (named Sammy) designed and donated by Storyteller Mike Miller for the benefit of children and storytellers.

Operation hours: Mon., Wed.-Fri: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Tues: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sat: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sun: 12 - 5 p.m.