Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The historic Horseshoe: a walk through the A leisurely walk around the historic Horseshoe, the original campus of USC, is a visit to the past. Within the four city blocks stand ten buildings from the early 19th century, essentially restored to their original appearance and use as living quarters, classrooms and faculty offices. In 1801, the year this institution was chartered as South Carolina College, Jef ferson was our newly inaugurated presi dent, Fulton was experimenting with the steamboat and music lovers were en joying fresh xvorks from Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the modified quadrangle was the next major building project in Columbia after the state capitol. Most of these buildings reflect the federal style of architecture in vogue in those early days of our nation. As in all architecture, climate was a dominant force in the college’s design. Fires were a threat to the buildings in win ter because fireplaces were the only means of heating and each room had one. Con sequently, the buildings were made of brick, locally available and cheap. The main floors of the building, designed as faculty residences, were above ground level—a plan which promoted air circu lation during South Carolina’s long, hot summers. Robert Mills, the nation’s first fed eral architect and the designer of the Wash ington Monument, greatly influenced the architecture of South Carolina College. Mills was involved in the design of Rut ledge College, the South Carolinian Li brary and Maxcy Monument in the cen ter of the Horseshoe, named for the first president of the college, Jonathan Maxcy. Student life belied today’s serene surroundings. A rowdy young student body populated a mud-covered campus scarred with carriage and wagon ruts. In untidy backyards were out buildings that included chick en houses, privies, and carriage houses. The stately gardens which grace the Horseshoe to day may have been preceded by a collard patch or two. The brick wall atmosphere was built originally to cordon off the un ruly students. South Carolina College was a highly respected institution with a renowned faculty, until the Civil War, when classes were sus pended after most of the student body en listed in the Army. During the war, the college buildings were used as a hospital. After the war, as the renamed Uni versity of South Carolina began to grow beyond the original campus, the Horse shoe fell into further disrepair. An ex tensive program begun in 1972 restored the area to its 1850 appearance to serve as the living-learning center of a “new” South Carolina College, the honors col lege, which receives the outstanding aca demic reputation the institution enjoyed in its early years. In 1983 the restoration project received the Preservation Award for Public Building Renovation from the Historic Columbia Foundation. Friends of the University have added aesthetic touches, such as the two wrought iron gates at the Horseshoe entrances giv en by the Beta Omicron Chapter of Ze ta Tau Alpha, and several of the gardens. The walkway initials were implanted by Omicron Delta Kappa students under the leadership of the legendary English professor Havilah Babcock when the bricks were laid in the early 1930s. The driveway was paved with brick in the mid-1970s from part of Booker T. Wash ington High School. InfrontofMcKissick is a time capsule, scheduled to be opened in 2001, containing relics from the last half of the century. Historic Horseshoe Buildings 1. South Caroliniana library (1840) This landmark was the first free stand ing college library in the U.S. and is the most architecturally distinctive building on the Horseshoe. Designed by the fa mous architect Robert Mills, it is the one that is closest to its original interior ap pearance. The facade matches the Charleston Fireproof Building, a Mills’ design, and the second floor reading room is a replica of Charles Bulfinch’s Library of Congress reading room. Today the library houses extensive collections con centrating on South Carolina. The grave in front is that of J. Rion McKissick, pres ident of the University, 1936-1944. 2. & 3 Haiper, Elliott College (1837) Ironically, Elliott was part of an in tensive mid-19th century building pro gram to provide for increased enrollment, which by 1836 had swelled to 142. Less than 15 years later, most of the students of the honors college had joined the Amiy. *t_ j__i._ 1 WJilJ 11IV VUllUlllg 1IWUJ es students of the honors college and, along with Harper, mirrors the Pinckney and Legare buildings across the lawn. It is named for Stephen Elliott (1777-1830), first president of the Bank of the State of South Car olina. This building, and the other early residence halls, Elliott, Pinckney and Legare, were pat terned after those at Yale—the arrangement of apartments into a sin gle tenement to foster so cially cohesive groups. The Euphradian Society (1806), an active politi cal, intellectual and so cial organization for stu dents, had its home on the third floor. But, like its counterparts, Harper was not a residence hall for long. When classes were suspended in March 1862, Harper, along with other campus buildings, was used as a hospital. Now it is home for the offices of the “new” South Carolina College, the honors college, which would have pleased its name sake, William Harper, Class of 1808, not ed South Carolina judge and US Senator. 4. McCutchen House (1813) The building is the home of the Faculty House, a faculty club, but origi nally it was built as a faculty residence. A small outbuilding was erected on the premises especially for Professor Maxi milian LaBorde, who found the size of the residence “uncomfortable” for his family of ten children. The house retains President’s House 1 ' '• Dr. and Mrs. John Palms with their dog, Lady Carolina