Find lifetimes of history at Elmwood Cemetery

For local history buffs, some of Columbia’s greatest stories lie with the residents who walked the city’s streets over the last two centuries. You’ll just have to visit them in their eternal resting places.

Historic Columbia offers graveyard tours of Elmwood Cemetery on the second Thursday of each month, from April through September. The first tours of this season will be held Thursday night.

The tours are led by volunteer docents (some dressed in Victorian-era costumes) who receive extensive training in the history of the grave markers – and those who lie beneath.

Elmwood Cemetery was established in 1854 on what was then the outskirts of Columbia, whose boundaries were marked by Elmwood, Blossom, Huger and Harden streets, said Carrie Phillips, director of marketing and communications for Historic Columbia.

Today, there are more than 25,000 people buried in the cemetery – including some of Columbia’s and South Carolina’s most prominent figures in history, Phillips said. The cemetery also includes the remains of 500 Confederate soldiers, she said.

There are three tours offered each month. A “Secrets of the Grave” tour starts at 7:30 p.m. and participants will learn about the meaning behind various icons engraved on headstones. Moonlight tours at 8 and 8:30 p.m. tell the stories about the families represented in the cemetery, and their roles in 18th and 19th century Columbia history.

Phillips said her favorite story is about William and Mary Hunt, who are both buried in the cemetery. William Hunt was South Carolina’s Secretary of State during the Union occupation in February 1865. He and his wife are credited with saving many historical and Confederate documents as Union troops burned the city. Mary Hunt reportedly sewed the original Ordinance of Secession into the hem of her skirt, knowing the Union soldiers would never search a woman. The original Ordinance of Secession is kept now at the S.C. Department of Archives and History along Parklane Road.

Phillips recommends bringing a flashlight and bug spray for the tours, as well as good walking shoes, as some areas are not paved. Tours generally last about an hour.

Tickets for Historic Columbia members are $8 for adults and $4 for children. For non-members, tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children. While tickets can be purchased at the start of the tour, Phillips recommends buying them in advance, as the tours often sell out.

Tickets may be purchased online at historiccolumbia.org, by emailing reservations@historiccolumbia.org or by phone at (803) 252-1770, Ext. 23.

Bridget Winston, Special to The State

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 11:40 PM with the headline "Find lifetimes of history at Elmwood Cemetery."