Located in the heart of the Palmetto State, Columbia was the
first planned city in South Carolina and the second in America,
and was most likely named in reverence of Christopher Columbus.
Columbia serves as the center of government, education and
commerce for South Carolina. Colonial Life's headquarters are in
Columbia and about 1,000 Colonial Life and Unum corporate staff
employees work there. Columbia boasts more than 200 years of
history as well as the Army's largest training base at Fort
Jackson. With a metropolitan population of more than 600,000,
its central location provides easy access to beaches, mountains
and state parks as well as cities as diverse as Charleston and
Atlanta. The largest children's museum in the South — EdVenture
— is also located here. Established in 1786, Columbia replaced
Charleston as the seat of government for the state of South
Carolina. Columbia is the state's first planned city, and only
the second planned city in the United States (Savannah, Georgia
was the first). Columbi