Confederate Printing Plant

From April 1864 to February 1865, Confederate bonds and currency were printed and processed in this building, which was constructed in 1863-64 for the printing and stationery firm of Evans & Cogswell. Founded in Charleston, Evans & Cogswell produced bonds and currency for the Confederacy throughout the war and moved to Columbia in 1863, and the Confederate Treasury Note Bureau also moved its headquarters here in the spring of 1864. After 1864, Evans & Cogswell printed almost all bonds and currency for the Confederate Treasury, employing many young women to sign and cut sheets as they came off the press. When Federal troops burned part of the building in February 1865, they carried off the printing plates and “an immense quantity” of currency. The building later served as a warehouse for the state liquor dispensary system from 1895 to 1907.

Columbia, South Carolina · United States