Fort Hill Plantation Office - Clemson, SC - South Carolina Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The original house at Fort Hill Plantation was built about 1803 and became the home of John C. Calhoun in 1825. Calhoun enlarged the original home to 14-rooms. In addition to the main house, Calhoun built a small plantation office behind the house. This small building became his private sanctuary where he worked daily on plantation business and developed his political doctrine. John C Calhoun died in 1850 and the property was eventually divided between his children. Anna Calhoun Clemson and her husband Thomas Green Clemson moved into Fort Hill in 1872 and in 1888 Clemson bequeathed more than 800 acres of the plantation to the State of South Carolina for the development of an agricultural college. In his will, Clemson also stipulated that the House should “never be torn down or altered; kept in good repair and all articles of furniture should remain in the residence and the home should be open for visitors. To this day, Clemson University operates the home and office as a museum as stipulated in the will of Thomas Green Clemson, who was the founder of Clemson University.

This historical marker stands in front of the Plantation Office in the rear garden area of the main house. The text of the marker reads:

John C. Calhoun’s Plantation Office was his private sanctuary and housed both his study and library during his twenty-five-year residency at Fort Hill. In this building, Calhoun developed and set fourth his most historically significant constitutional arguments and political theories.

Vice President John C. Calhoun moved to the Pendleton District from Washington, D.C. in 1825 and settled into the Presbyterian manse “Clergy Hall.” After serving in the U. S. House of representatives and as Secretary of War under President James Monroe, Calhoun had been elected to the vice-presidency under John Quincy Adams in 1824. He later christened his renovated Greek Revival home, “Fort Hill” and made it his permanent residence for the rest of his life. At Fort Hill in 1828, Calhoun anonymously penned “The South Carolina Exposition and Protest,” outlining his political theory and nullification. In July 1831, he published his famous “Fort Hill Address,” publicly signaling his doctrine of states’ rights. Calhoun resigned as vice-president under Andrew Jackson in December 1832 during the nullification crisis.
Calhoun was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1832. His oratory in debate with fellow senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster earned them the name “The Great Triumvirate.” Calhoun’s service in the senate was interrupted briefly while he served out a term as Secretary of State for John Tyler, which included the annexation of Texas. On March 30, 1850, Calhoun died in Washington after serving almost continually in public office for forty years. Calhoun’s major books A Disquisition on Government and A Discourse on the Constitution were published posthumously.

Fort Hill plantation estate is a National Historic Landmark. The complex is preserved as an historic house museum in accordance with the will of Calhoun’s son-in-law Thomas G. Clemson and is furnished almost entirely with original family artifacts.

Restoration made possible by the generous gifts from Archie Shaw Dargan (Class of 1949) and Caroline Sligh Dargan, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in memory of his uncle George Edwin Dargan, Esq. 2003

Marker Name: Fort Hill Plantation Office Marker Location: City Type of Marker: Historic Site County: Pickens County Marker number: Not listed

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