Fort Hill (Clemson)

Infobox nrhp
name = Fort Hill (John C. Calhoun House)
nrhp_type = nhl

---

caption =
location= Clemson University campus, Clemson, South Carolina
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 34
lat_minutes = 40
lat_seconds = 40.5
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 82
long_minutes = 50
long_seconds = 20
long_direction = W
locmapin = South Carolina
area =
built = 1802Fact|date=March 2008 or 1825
architect =
architecture = Greek revival
designated= December 19, 1960cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=531&ResourceType=Building
title=Fort Hill (John C. Calhoun House) |accessdate=2008-03-21|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 66000708
mpsub =
governing_body = State (maintained by Clemson University and United Daughters of the Confederacy)

Fort Hill, also known as the John C. Calhoun Mansion and Library, is a National Historic Landmark in South Carolina which was once the home of John C. Calhoun. It is now part of Clemson University.

History

The home 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. [Edgar, Walter. "South Carolina Encyclopedia" (2006). p. 334, ISBN 1-57003-598-2]

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 convert|814|acre|km2 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." [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. ] 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.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000708.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort Hill] |32 KB|date=May 14, 1975 |author=Blanche Higgins Schroer |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000708.pdf "Accompanying eight photos, from 1974 and undated"] |32 KB]

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History states: "The Greek Revival mansion and office are all that remain from the former convert|1100|acre|km2|sing=on plantation with many outbuildings."cite web|url=http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/pickens/S10817739008/index.htm
title=Fort Hill, Pickens County (Clemson University) |accessdate=2008-03-21|work=National Register Properties in South Carolina listing|publisher=South Carolina Department of Archives and History]

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.clemson.edu/about/history/forthill.html Clemson University and Fort Hill] , at Clemson University
* [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/pickens/S10817739008/index.htm Fort Hill, Pickens County (Clemson University)] , including 12 photos, at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.sc0118 Fort Hill, Clemson University Campus, Clemson, Pickens County, SC: 122 photos, 28 drawings, 41 data pages] , at Historic American Building Survey
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.sc0119 Fort Hill, Office, Clemson University Campus, Clemson, Pickens County, SC: 1 photo, 4 drawings, 4 data pages] , at Historic American Building Survey