Clemson's Fort Hill to reopen next week

e-mail this story

The two-story, white plantation house sits on a shaded knoll near the center of the university campus and is a place of history and legend.

The 3 p.m. grand reopening and bicentennial celebration of the National Historic Landmark is scheduled on the front lawn of the home and includes a specially commissioned musical composition to commemorate the event.

In case of inclement weather, the celebration will be moved to the Strom Thurmond Institute auditorium.

Built in 1803 for the Rev. James McElhenney, a Presbyterian minister from Charleston, Calhoun lived there from 1825 until his death in 1850 and passed the home to his daughter, Anna and his son-in-law, whose will requires that it be preserved, said Will Hiott, director of historic properties at the university.

"He wanted it preserved in his will and used (George Washington's) Mt. Vernon as a model for what he wanted done with Ft. Hill as a museum in honor of his father-in-law and his own career and travels," Hiott said.

Today legend surrounds the home: students say if you go inside you won't graduate.

It's "widely repeated as Clemson lore," said Drew Land, a Clemson junior from Seneca, but he doesn't believe it.

"I've been in several times and my grades are faltering but I think I'm going to make it," said Land, who has a 3.5 grade point average and enjoys campus history.

At least two alumni who went inside were lucky to graduate. Two students in the late 1940s decided they wanted a picture of themselves in Calhoun's bed, Debbie DuBose, executive director of Clemson's alumni association.

They snuck in with a buddy who had a camera. They got undressed and were under the covers when their friend realized he'd forgotten the flash, DuBose said. He raced to the barracks and back while they waited in the bed. They showed the grainy black and white photo at their 50th reunion.

The home has been closed since April 2001 for interior and exterior restoration, addition of climate control systems and fire suppression system upgrades. Visitors will find changes when it reopens next week, Hiott said.

The mantels and baseboards have all been painted black and the doors in the formal hallway have been grained the original mahogany. New wallpapers have been reproduced from small fragments found in the house.

Sprinkler pipes and other previous intrusions are gone and the house looks more historically accurate, Hiott said.

About $600,000 in private gifts and $1.2 million appropriated by state lawmakers in 1997 funded the restoration, DuBose said.

The house will be open seven days week, from 10 a.m. until noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2-4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Suggested admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for children.