About
The Mabel Payne Photograph Collection contains hundreds of photographic negatives taken by Payne and other local photographers between 1959 and 1970. These images depict historic structures such as Ainsley Hall (Robert Mills House), the Seibels House, the Hampton-Preston mansion, and others. It also depicts downtown neighborhoods that have since been lost through urban renewal projects. This collection is the property of the City of Columbia, and the originals reside with the city’s Historic Preservation Office. In 2016, Richland Library scanned and identified these images in order to preserve them for future historic research and preservation efforts and has made a selection of them available online through Local History Digital Collections.