The Memorial Building

The Memorial Building. . , In 1906, U.S. Congressman Lemuel Padgett sponsored a bill in Congress to have Columbia’s first permanent U.S. Post Office constructed. It was completed in 1909. The U.S. Post Office operated in this building for over 30 years before it was relocated to the new federal building on South Garden Street in 1941. This building was then given by the Federal Government to the City of Columbia and used by the Maury County Memorial Association. In 1949, the City of Columbia adopted a resolution approving an exchange of properties, and the old post office officially became the Memorial Building., Reverse Side , It was named the Memorial Building, “to commemorate the memory of those living and dead who participated in the wars of our nation.” The building has functioned as Columbia’s main civic center ever since. In 1994, the Memorial Association relinquished ownership to Maury County and the City of Columbia. In 1995, the city quitclaimed its share to Maury County. The Memorial Building, along with the Maury County Courthouse and Columbia Depot, all built in the same decade, exemplify the economic resurgence that took place in Columbia and Maury County in the early 20th century with the discovery and mining of phosphate.