Prominent bridge connecting downtown Columbia, West Columbia to be named for late councilman
A major Columbia-area thoroughfare could soon bear late city councilman Joe Taylor’s name.
State and local leaders have banded together to see the state-owned Meeting Street honorarily named for Taylor who unexpectedly died in December at 64 years old.
Signs reading “Joe E. Taylor Jr. Way” would be added on both sides of the Gervais Street bridge, and the dedication would span Meeting Street from State Street in West Columbia to Huger Street across the river.
Columbia City Council had previously planned to dedicate a portion of Washington Street, where Taylor had an office, in his name.
“Every day I continue to hear about things he did that a lot of us that were close to him didn’t even know he did,” Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said at the time. “He made such a difference, and I think this is well warranted.”
Taylor was a longtime Columbia businessman who co-founded the company Southland Log Homes with his father and later served as South Carolina’s commerce secretary. He is credited for helping lure Boeing to the state.
The council unanimously passed the Washington Street measure April 18 but then walked it back after a group of residents took issue with the name extending into a historic Black business district.
Now, after several months of lobbying by Taylor’s close friends and colleagues, the honorary naming appears to be moving forward.
The S.C. Department of Transportation is asking Lexington County Council for $500 to cover the costs of the signs, as Meeting Street is in Lexington County.
A Lexington County Council committee tentatively approved the measure Aug. 8.
