It is my desire that the dwelling house on Fort Hill shall never be torn down or altered, but kept in repair, with all articles of furniture and vesture which I herein after give for that purpose, and shall always be open for the inspection of visitors.
—LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THOMAS GREEN CLEMSON

In 1825, John Caldwell Calhoun and his wife, Floride Bonneau, moved into a modest plantation home in the upper South Carolina piedmont near present day Clemson. Having risen to prominence as a local lawyer in nearby Abbeville, Calhoun had by this time served in the South Carolina General Assembly (1808-1810), the United States Congress (1811-1817), and as Secretary of War in the administration of James Monroe.

Located in Pickens County, South Carolina, and originally called Clergy Hall, Fort Hill was constructed as a four-room cottage in 1803 by Dr. James McElhenney, the second pastor of the historic Old Stone Church. Built in the upcountry vernacular style with three Greek Revival columned piazzas, the home would grow to ten rooms (and 14 fireplaces) to accommodate their ten children.

While lacking the lofty scale of a Monticello, Fort Hill had a simple grandeur elegantly framed by magnificent views of the Blue Ridge Mountain range to the north and the Seneca River to the south. Although only about 450 acres of the estate’s approximately 1,100 were cultivated during Calhoun’s life, it was a vibrant and active home for such a large family and about seventy slaves.

Although its modern setting is surrounded by the sprawling campus of Clemson University, which is the house’s custodian by the terms of the will, a visitor in Calhoun’s day would have come up along a cedar-lined drive to the main house, along with an exterior office and kitchen with a vegetable garden on one side and on the other “Cornelia’s Garden,” a playground for one of Calhoun’s daughters, born lame.

While Fort Hill provided Calhoun with a retreat from the hullabaloo of official Washington, he was never removed from the issues of the day. Here Calhoun would pen some of the works that would establish him as the preeminent political philosopher of the American Republic. His famous Fort Hill Address: On the Relation which the States and General Government Bear to Each Other, which set forth the doctrine of nullification, was written on his desk in the office. As further reminders of the larger world, two trees on the grounds were presents from his Congressional colleagues: a cypress from Henry Clay and a hemlock from Daniel Webster.

History abounds inside Fort Hill as well. Unlike many other historic homes, most of the furnishings never left and others were donated by family members in the 20th century. A chair located in the parlor was presented to Calhoun’s son-in-law (and subsequent owner of the house) while he was an emissary to Belgium. There is a mahogany sideboard made from wood once used in the USS Constitution, as well as a Windsor chair once belonging to George Washington.

After Calhoun’s death in 1850, the property passed to his widow and daughter Anna Maria Calhoun. Anna Maria had married Thomas Green Clemson of Philadelphia. Educated in Paris, Clemson served as Charge d’Affaires to Belgium until 1852 and as United States Superintendent of Agriculture until the firing on Fort Sumter.

When the War started, Clemson, who was fifty-four at the time, joined the Confederate Army and served in Arkansas and Texas, administering mining operations and developing more efficient explosives. At the end of the War he was paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana.

His son, Captain John Calhoun Clemson, CSA, fared worse, spending two hellish years as a Yankee prisoner at Johnson’s Island, in Lake Erie, Ohio.

The elder Clemson died in 1888—outliving his wife and children—and 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 the inspection of visitors.” Clemson University has operated Fort Hill as a museum ever since.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, Fort Hill fell on hard times and at one point was designated to the Department of the Interior, National Historic Landmarks Program, as a “Threatened and Endangered” landmark in need of restoration based on continued deterioration.

Since Clemson was required by the will to maintain the property, they finally began a major renovation project in 1997 and concluded in time for the bicentennial in 2003. Clemson University’s restoration, funded partly by a $1.2 million grant from the South Carolina legislature, included structural stabilization, the installation of climate control, upgrade of fire suppression and electrical systems, as well as restoration of Calhoun’s office.

The second phase of restoration focused on the inside of the home. It included painting and plaster repair and the reproduction of missing architectural features such as doors. It also included the painstaking reproduction of wall coverings. Fort Hill was named a national treasure by the Save America’s Treasures program, and now its artifacts are currently undergoing a comprehensive conservation program funded by this federal grant and matching funds.

Photos by Michael Givens

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