First Baptist Church, Columbia

This Greek Revival church in downtown Columbia holds a notable place in South Carolina history as the site where the state's secession convention first assembled in December 1860, initiating the sequence that led to the Civil War. Built in the 1850s with a columned portico, the church was reportedly spared destruction when Sherman's troops burned much of the city in 1865, a sexton having misdirected the soldiers. Still an active congregation, its sanctuary and history draw visitors interested in the events that plunged the nation into war.