Columbia City Hall, Government building in Columbia, United States

Columbia City Hall is a former federal courthouse and post office featuring Renaissance design elements with stone facades and symmetrical window arrangements throughout. The four-story structure displays classical proportions and currently houses municipal offices and public services.

Construction began in 1870 and finished in 1874, marking a period of urban development following the Civil War. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, affirming its role in local heritage.

The building has housed Columbia's city government since a 1935 land-swap deal with the federal government transferred it from federal ownership. Before that, from 1874 to 1936, it served as a federal courthouse, and its post office moved out in 1921. Visitors today enter the same 1870 structure to pay taxes, attend council meetings and handle permits.

The building sits at the intersection of Main and Laurel Streets and is easy to locate and access. Since it functions as an active government office, some areas may have restricted access during certain hours or for security reasons.

Alfred B. Mullett, supervising architect of the Treasury, designed the building; James Knox Taylor had no part in it. Congress under the Grant administration appropriated the funds, and construction began in 1870 at a reported cost of $400,000. The federal courts sat here until 1936, when the city took over the building through a land swap.