Old Campus District, University of South Carolina

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Bounded by Pendleton, Sumter, Pickens, and Green Sts., Columbia, SC (Richland County)

Alternate Name:

University of South Carolina Historic District

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817740005

Description and Narrative:

(University of South Carolina Historic District) Chartered in 1801 as South Carolina College, opened 1805, and re-chartered as University of South Carolina in 1865, the institution reflects the ambitions and fortunes of the state. A tree-shaded quadrangle centers the Old Campus District. The buildings bordering the quadrangle present balanced grouping and harmony of design, austere simplicity of early Republican architecture. A brick wall erected in 1835 surrounds them. Landmarks include Rutledge College (ca. 1805) and Maxcy Monument (ca. 1827), both designed by Robert Mills; DeSaussure College (1809), designed by Edward Clark; South Caroliniana Library (ca.1840), the oldest separate college library building in the United States; and the Gymnasium, designed by Jacob Graves in 1855 as a chapel. There are over twenty other contributing campus institutional buildings and numerous contributing landscape features. Listed in the National Register June 5, 1970.

Period of Significance:

1848

Level of Significance:

State

Area of Significance:

Education;Architecture;Art;Education;Literature

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

June 5 1970

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