Walker Local and FamilySearch Center

The Walker Local History and Family History Center, located on the third floor of the Main Library in downtown Columbia, provides family history document beginner packets in addition to advice and recommendations that will help you further your own research efforts.

You can also access a wealth of resources online including:

• the Online Obituary Index.  You may request copies of the original obituaries.
• genealogy databases which are free for Richland Library Card holders.
• the Local History digital collection which includes Columbia City Directories and Confederate rolls

If you reside outside of Richland County, you may apply for a card for $65 dollars a year.

Contact Information and Hours

Location & Map:

1. Richland Library
   1431 Assembly St.
   Columbia, SC 29201
   
2. Take the escalator or elevator to the third floor.  
3. Get directions to Richland Library (Google).

Phone:  (803) 929-3402 See also Call a Librarian.

E-mail:  Email a Librarian

Open Hours:  

Mon-Thu: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Fri-Sat: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Sun: 2:00pm - 6:00pm

Holiday Schedule:

Calendar and Events

Upcoming Events

• Walking In the Past Lane - We bring a new and interesting slice of history every 1st Thursday, Local History Room, Main Library, 6:00
• Sept 5: Alexia Helsley discussing her new book "Wicked Columbia."

Resources

The following resources are available to patrons on site:

Vital Information

Marriage

• Holcomb, Brent Howard.  Marriage and death notices from Columbia, South Carolina, newspapers, 1792-1839.  Easley, South Carolina:  Southern Historical Press, 1982
• Holcomb, Brent Howard. Marriage and death notices from Columbia, South Carolina, newspapers, 1838-1860 : including legal notices from burnt counties. Columbia, South Carolina: B. H. Holcomb, 1988.

Cemeteries

• Risley, H. M., English, Elisabeth D., and Davis, Elizabeth M.  Partial List of Confederate Soldiers Buried in Churchyards in Columbia, S. C. and Vicinity.  United Daughters of the Confederacy, Wade Hampton Chapter.

Churches

• Clayton, J. Glenwood, ed. Journal of the South Carolina Baptist Historical Society Volumes 1-28. Greenville, South Carolina:  South Carolina Baptist Historical Society, 1975-2004

Collections

• Family History Library Catalog: The Walker Local and Family History Center has the ability to order any of the films and fiche available through the Family History Library Catalog.
  

Databases and Software

The following databases are available through Richland Library.  For more information see:  Genealogy Resources

• Accessible Archives
• America's Obituary and Death Notices
• America's Obituaries & Death Notices
• Ancestry Library Edition (inside library access only)
• Columbia City Directories
• Community Resources
• Confederate Rolls of South Carolina
• The Confederate Rolls of South Carolina
• Heritage Quest
• NewsBank
• South Carolina Historical Newspapers Collection
• Walker Local and Family History Photograph Collection

Hardware and Equipment

(Include the resources you have to help individuals do their research - computers, microfilm readers, printers, etc. )

History Local

• Hennig, Helen Kohn.  Columbia, Capital City of South Carolina 1786-1936. Columbia, South Carolina:  The Columbia Sesqui-Centennial Commission, 1936

Military History

Civil War

• Secretary of War.  War of Rebellion Official Records of The Union and Confederate Armies.  Government Printing Office, 1880-1901 (reprinted by National Historic Society, Harrisburg, PA, 1971)

World War II

• Selected Obituaries of World War II Veterans. Columbia, South Carolina:  The State, 1992-2012

Periodicals

Wells, Lawrence K, and Brent H. Holcomb, ed. South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. 1-20. Columbia, SC, USA: SCMAR, 1973-1992. -  The volumes of The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research include a wealth of resources for South Carolina genealogy.  Some of the many types of records included are Bible records, biographies, marriage records, obituaries, wills and deeds. Indexes through Volume XL are available on site.  A searchable online database for Volumes I-20 can be found at Ancestry.

Ethnic Research

African American

• It was the service of African Americans in servitude that turned the little community near Taylor's Hill into the city of Granby which became the capital city of South Carolina.
• Deas Moore, Vennie.  Black America Series:  Columbia, South Carolina.  Charleston, South Carolina:  Arcadia Publishing, 2000

Resources in the Local Area

(This section is to highlight other resources in your area that will be helpful for individuals doing research there in your location, if there are any, such as government offices, historical societies, etc.)

Links

• Columbia, South Carolina
• Richland County, South Carolina
• South Carolina
• The Dead Librarian - Helping South Carolina family historians find free, online information.