Columbia to name BullStreet park after late Black architect, community leader
More than a century ago, Columbia’s Page Ellington emerged from the bonds of slavery and became a noted builder, self-taught architect and community leader.
Now the city of Columbia has made a move to ensure his name will live on for years.
Columbia City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to name the public park in the BullStreet District for Ellington. A council committee, which included Councilmen Howard Duvall, Sam Davis and Ed McDowell, worked for several months to establish a namesake for the park, with input from BullStreet master developer Hughes Development, University of South Carolina civil rights historian Bobby Donaldson and Historic Columbia executive director Robin Waites.
According to a bio provided by the city, Ellington lived from 1848 to 1912. He was originally from North Carolina, and was a slave in his young life. In 1875 he joined University of South Carolina professor Richard T. Greener as a member of the Columbia Board of Health, and was later an elections manager in what was then known as Ward 4. He was recognized by his peers, Black and white, for his abilities as a builder and architect, and had a hand in the design of buildings at the former State Mental Hospital campus, which is now being transformed into the BullStreet District.
In 1910, The State wrote about Ellington’s relationship with Dr. James Babcock, namesake of the iconic Babcock Building at BullStreet.
“He has assisted Dr. Babcock with all of the new buildings at the State Hospital and it will be observed that the towers all differ in appearance,” the piece read. “Page Ellington has through postal cards and encyclopedias informed himself upon the detail of the most renowned turrets and steeples and spires and towers in all parts of the world and has exhibited not a little taste in fitting designs to new buildings.”
An entry on Historic Columbia’s website notes Ellington as “a prominent member of Columbia’s elite Reconstruction-era African American community” who had “the respect and confidence of everyone who knew him.”
Ellington was chosen from a list of more than a dozen names the city council committee has been debating for the name of the BullStreet park.
“Page Ellington is a really special person connected to the BullStreet property,” Duvall said. “He was an enslaved person from Rockingham, North Carolina, who was sold to (a person in) Columbia. He taught himself, against his master’s wishes, the art of brick-laying and became a master brick-layer. He was befriended by Dr. Babcock and, because of his architectural skills, he actually designed several of the buildings that are on the campus.
“He is a very worthy person to name that park after.”
Duvall said the Council committee hopes to put other wayfinding signage in the BullStreet District to recognize additional prominent African American citizens.
Ellington was a member of a number of churches through the years, including Washington Street Methodist, Bethel AME Church, and Ladson Presbyterian Church, where he served as superintendent of the Sunday school.
“He was very ecumenical in his service to churches,” McDowell said. “He was a guy who had all the credentials of leadership for our city. ... This man represents a real gift to Columbia.”
Third-term Mayor Steve Benjamin said naming the park after Ellington was a “wonderful recognition.”
“That period of our history, the Reconstruction Era in particular, was such an amazing time, particularly in South Carolina,” Benjamin said. “Lifting up the name of someone who others might not ever have known existed, an ordinary person who led an extraordinary life, is a pretty amazing opportunity.”
The park is on the northeast portion of the expansive BullStreet property, not far from the Merrill Gardens senior living facility and Segra Park baseball stadium. Hughes Development built the park and donated the land back to the city, which took control of the park in August 2020. It features a walking path, a dog park, rolling green lawns, a pond and stream, and a pair of shelters, with future plans for a playground and a sand volleyball court, among other amenities.
While the park is not formally open yet, citizens have already been making use of it in recent months, with officials noting the dog park has been especially popular.
