Fort Hill (Clemson)

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Fort Hill (John C. Calhoun House)
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Location: Clemson University campus, Clemson, South Carolina
Coordinates: 34°40′40.5″N 82°50′20″W / 34.677917, -82.83889Coordinates: 34°40′40.5″N 82°50′20″W / 34.677917, -82.83889
Built/Founded: 1802[citation needed] or 1825[1]
Architectural style(s): Greek revival
Designated as NHL: December 19, 1960[2]
Added to NRHP: October 15, 1966[1]
NRHP Reference#: 66000708
Governing body: State (maintained by Clemson University and United Daughters of the Confederacy)[3]

Fort Hill, also known as the John C. Calhoun Mansion and Library, was originally built as a four room house about 1803 and was called Clergy Hall by Dr. James McElhenny, who was the pastor of Hopewell Presbyterian Church. The home later became the home of John C. Calhoun, and his wife Floride Calhoun in 1825. Calhoun enlarged it to fourteen rooms and renamed it Fort Hill for nearby Fort Rutledge, which was a nearby fortification built around 1776. The architectural style is Greek revival with Federal detailing and with simple interior detailing. [4]

After Calhoun's death in 1850, the property passed to his wife to be shared with three of her children: Cornelia, John, and Anna Maria, wife of Thomas Green Clemson. Anna sold her share to Floride Calhoun. Floride Calhoun sold the plantation to her son, Andrew Pickens Calhoun, and held the mortgage. After Andrew died in 1865, she filed for foreclosure against Andrew's heirs prior to her death in 1866. After lengthy legal proceedings, the plantation was auctioned at Walhalla in 1872. The executor of her estate won the auction, which was divided among her surviving heirs. Her daughter, Anna Clemson, received the residence with about 814 acres (329.6 ha) and her great granddaughter, Floride Isabella Lee, received about 288 acres (116.6 ha). Thomas Green and Anna Clemson moved into Fort Hill in 1872. After Anna's death in 1875, Thomas Green Clemson inherited Fort Hill. In his 1888 will, Clemson bequeathed more than 814 acres of the Fort Hill estate to the State of South Carolina for an agricultural college with a stipulation that the dwelling house "shall never be torn down or altered; but shall be kept in repair with all articles of furniture and vesture... and shall always be open for inspection of visitors.".[5] Clemson University has operated Fort Hill as a house museum as stipulated in the will.

The home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[2][3]

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History states: "The Greek Revival mansion and office are all that remain from the former 1,100-acre plantation with many outbuildings."[6]

Fort Hill was closed for a two-year restoration project and was reopened in spring of 2003. Fort Hill was named a national treasure by the Save America's Treasures program, and its artifacts are currently undergoing a comprehensive conservation program funded by this federal grant and matching funds.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  2. ^ a b Fort Hill (John C. Calhoun House). National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  3. ^ a b Blanche Higgins Schroer (May 14, 1975), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort HillPDF (32 KB), National Park Service  and Accompanying eight photos, from 1974 and undatedPDF (32 KB)
  4. ^ Edgar, Walter. South Carolina Encyclopedia (2006). p. 334, ISBN 1-57003-598-2
  5. ^ E. M. Lander, Jr., The Calhoun Family and Thomas Green Clemson: The Decline of a Southern Patriarchy (1983) University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC.
  6. ^ Fort Hill, Pickens County (Clemson University). National Register Properties in South Carolina listing. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.

[edit] External links

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