Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park

  The Columbia Canal is the surviving canal of a series of canals built by the State of South Carolina in 1824 using the labor of indentured Irishmen to provide direct water routes between the upstate settlements and the towns on the Fall Line. It is on the Congaree and Broad rivers in Columbia, South Carolina. It is the focal point of the Riverfront Park in Columbia. The canal is now used to generate hydroelectric power by the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. The Columbia Canal is on the National Register of Historic Places, No. 79002392. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History has additional pictures and information, and copies of the nomination forms. In 1820, construction started on a canal to navigate the rapids where the Broad River and the Saluda River form the Congaree River. It used a natural ravine that was between the City of Columbia and the Congaree and Broad Rivers. The canal started between Lumber (currently Calhoun) and Richland Streets. It ran al...