1786: Land sale and creation of Columbia "The Capital City"

In 1786, based on the recommendation of Senator Gervais, the area on the east side of the Congaree River (just below the convergence of the Saluda and Broad rivers) would become South Carolina's new Capital. It was chosen because of its central location and Gervais proposed the name "Columbia". The land owners in this 6 mile square area were given $8 an acre for their land. Not a good deal and the real winners were those that owned land in certain areas just outside of Columbia. The resale of that land would make the Hampton and Taylor brothers very wealthy. John Compty did not fare as well as his 150 acres just north of Columbia (on the east side of the Broad River) was not an area of any real development potential. Below is more information on the Columbia land sale and how John Compty had the third largest portion of Columbia's land. Most local history books fail to mention John Compty. The second image, below, was the initial layout of the city of Columbia. Compty helped create this and he is named as one of the "planners" of Columbia in General Assembly documents from that time.