Old Shandon Historic District
National Register Listing
Street Address:
Roughly bounded by Cypress, Lee, Maple, Preston, and Woodrow, Columbia, SC (Richland County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740130
Description and Narrative:
The Old Shandon Historic District is historically significant as the first planned suburban community of Columbia. The houses, institutions, and businesses built in Shandon between the 1890s and the 1950s reflected the growing suburban landscape of the white middle class as it responded to changes in transportation, social issues, and increasing population and commercial development encroachment. Robert W. Shand, a prominent local attorney, formed the Columbia Land and Investment Company in 1889. The following year the company bought 305 acres east of Columbia for $24,000. Formerly rural farmland and woods owned earlier in the 1800s by Robert Start, a Revolutionary War soldier and early nineteenth century mayor of Columbia, this land was to be the first phase of the new town of Shandon, envisioned as an enclave from the busy life of the city as well as a resort and amusement center. The wide streets and generous lots of the area created a park-like setting that was intended to attract professional workers and their families from the urban center. Access to the offices and businesses of the city was provided by the extension of the city’s trolley line into the district. The district is a collection of fifty-one primarily residential properties, forty-two of which are contributing properties. Three buildings in the district are utilized for religious purposes. Representative architectural styles include Queen Anne, Bungalow, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Neo-Classical. Listed in the National Register September 2, 2003.
Period of Significance:
1893 – circa 1940
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Community Planning and Development
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
September 2 2003
