The land that would eventually develop into the town of Calhoun, SC was first purchased by James W. Crawford in 1844. In 1884, Aaron Boggs purchased the portion of land adjacent to the Fort Hill Plantation. Then, after Mr. Crawford died in 1888, the remainder of the land was bought by Nelson C. Poe, his son-in-law. Mr. Poe then sold half of this purchase to his brother-in-law David Sloan. In 1891, Poe and Sloan sold their combined sixty and one-half acres north of the railroad tracks to Aaron Boggs. The next year, Boggs had the entirety of this land surveyed and laid out with streets. (One final tract of land in the area, located in the eastern part of what is now Clemson, stretching from Cochran Road to Highway 123 belonged to Macrina Campbell.)

Soon after Calhoun’s 1892 incorporation, the town adjacent to Clemson College boasted several general stores, a brickyard, a blacksmith, two schools, four churches, its own post office, livery services and boarding houses, and its own local doctor. According to the 1910 census the town had around 200 citizens; by 1920 the population had grown to over 700. Today, just over 100 years later, the City of Clemson’s year-round population is estimated at more than 18,000.

Former Mayors
Frank H. Clinkscales May 14, 1937 – June 5, 1938
Charles C. Bennett June 6, 1938 – June 5, 1942
Carl L. Epting June 6, 1942 – June 3, 1945
A. Hoke Sloan June 3, 1945 – June 23, 1946
Leon P. Crawford June 24, 1946 – December 31, 1964
George H. Dunkleberg January 1, 1965 – December 31, 1965
R. Roy Boggs January 1, 1966 – December 31, 1966 John
W. LaGrone January 1, 1967 – December 31, 1972 Kenney
R. Helton January 1, 1973 – January 6, 1975
Catherine J. Smith January 6, 1975 – December 31, 1980
Hubert J. Webb January 3, 1981 – December 31, 1984
Larry W. Abernathy January 7, 1985 – February 11, 2012
James C. Cook February 12, 2012 – January 3, 2021 G.
Robert Halfacre January 4, 2021 – Present

Churches
Old Stone Church – 1802
Abel Baptist Church – 1868
Fort Hill Presbyterian Church – 1895
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church – 1899
Clemson First Baptist Church – 1907
Goldenview Baptist Church – 1910
Clemson United Methodist Church – 1912

Clemson University
Clemson College was constructed on the site of the Fort Hill Estate, which was owned by Senator John C. Calhoun by way of his wife, Floride. Upon the death of the Calhouns, the estate passed to their daughter Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson and Thomas Green Clemson. The Clemsons wanted the state of South Carolina to create a scientific institution to teach agriculture and engineering, so Clemson left his home and fortune to the state of South Carolina to create the institution that bears his name. As such, while Mr. Clemson is the namesake of the school, the college was made possible through a succession of the Colhoun-Calhoun-Clemson women.

In November 1889, Gov. John Peter Richardson signed a bill accepting Clemson’s gift, which established the Clemson Agricultural College and made its trustees custodians of Morrill Act and Hatch Act funds, federally provided for agricultural education and research purposes by federal legislative acts.

Clemson Agricultural College opened in July 1893 as an all-male, all-white military school with 446 students. Clemson became a coeducational, civilian institution in 1955. Then, in 1963, with the admission of Harvey Gantt, Clemson became the first traditionally white institution in South Carolina to desegregate since Reconstruction. The next year, Clemson College became Clemson University.

Today, Clemson University offers more than 80 major programs, more than 90 minor programs and more than 130 graduate degree programs. Undergraduate enrollment is over 22,000, and graduate enrollment is over 5,500 with students from around the globe.

Hartwell Lake
Hartwell Lake is a man-made lake on the border of South Carolina and Georgia. This Lake was constructed with the creation of the Hartwell Dam, which redirected water from the Savannah River to provide electricity and water to municipalities, homes, and industries. The project was initially approved in the early 1950s, though construction was halted in the mid 1950s due to objection from Clemson College alleging the project would destroy irreplaceable lands, causing irreparable damage to the college. The Corps and the College worked together to develop alternative plans, which resulted in two diversion dams around the Clemson area to rechannel the Seneca River and protect valuable school facilities. After reaching this agreement, the Hartwell project was completed in 1962.

Hartwell Lake is now the largest lake in the Southeast, holding over 50,000 acres of water that reaches a depth of approximately 185 feet and is surrounded by 23,000 acres of land, which includes five state parks, numerous recreational areas, and thousands of individual home sites. The Hartwell Dam has 5 generators and creates 470 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which is distributed to several states in the southeast.

The land occupied by and surrounded by Hartwell Lake was once home to Cherokee Natives and, in fact, was the hub of the community.

One of the casualties of the creation of Hartwell Lake is Andersonville, a trading and textile town, the remains of which are still under the lake.

Lake Hartwell’s namesake is Nancy Hart, a legendary Revolutionary War patriot who was living in Elbert County Georgia when the American Revolution began. She was considered a strong woman – both physically and emotionally – who loved and valued her freedom. She was essential in the fight against Tories in the backwoods of Georgia and was the subject of several legendary stories.

Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a region of the Appalachian Mountain range, which runs 2,050 miles from the Island of Newfoundland to Central Alabama. The highest peak, in Mount Mitchell, NC, is at 6,684 feet. The geological processes that led to the Appalachian Mountains began 1.1 billion years ago, making this range significantly older than the western Rocky Mountains, which began forming 80 million years ago.

Littlejohn’s Grill
Horace Littlejohn and his wife Gertrude owned and operated Littlejohn’s Grill on Old Greenville Highway in Clemson from the 1940s to the late 1960s. During this time, segregation was law, so Littlejohn’s Grill provided meals and lodging for African American performers traveling the Chitlin’ Circuit. During this time, many future greats of jazz and blues performed at the Littlejohn’s Grill, attracting crowds of 1500 people. In fact, these crowds began to blur the strict segregation rules of the time with white patrons in the balcony and black patrons on the main floor. These patrons were treated to performances by Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Elmore James, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Piano Red, Mac Arnold. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Red Foxx, and, perhaps most notably, James Brown.

After Littlejohn’s death in 1968, the Grill fell into decline, eventually closing its doors, and the buildings were torn down in the early 1990s. Today, the Littlejohn Community Center, run by Horace’s granddaughter Adraine, sits on the property where the Grill once stood and provides and hosts several services and activities.