The Columbia Mill opened around 1893 making duck cloth and was the first cotton mill in the world to depend on hydroelectric power. It was also General Electrics first major electrical installation. Other mills later developed water powers around the South instead of driving them with hydraulics or a private steam power plant. Shown is the Columbia Mills Power Plant on Columbia Canal. No insulators are known from the plant today but were most likely Imperial.

In 1988, the Columbia Mill building was opened as the South Carolina State Museum. The museum claims that Columbia Mill is their "biggest artifact" and is on the National Historic Register of Places.

http://historicalcolumbia.com/Columbia-Canal.html