The Heidt-Russell House was built ca. 1879. In 1872, the Heidt family purchased the entire block and subdivided it among family members. William J. Heidt, a contractor-builder and manager of Reidlinger’s Steam Baker, built this house and lived here until 1912. In 1919, Mary E. Russell purchased the home and the Russell family lived here since.
Edwin Roberts Russell, the son of Mary, graduated with degrees from Benedict College and Howard University in chemistry before entering the PhD program at University of Chicago in 1942. His arrival coincided with the university’s creation of the Metallurgical Laboratory, or “Met Lab,” where scientists studied the new element plutonium as part of the larger Manhattan Project during World War II.

Location: Waverly Historic District, Columbia, South Carolina