Clemson, South Carolina

Clemson Clemson is located in Pickens County. It was originally called Calhoun in honor of John Ewing Calhoun (sometimes spelled Colhoun), who purchased a tract called Fort Hill in the late eighteenth-century. Calhoun's daughter Floride married his first cousin, John C. Calhoun, vice president of the United States, and they lived here together from 1825 until his death in 1850. The estate eventually passed to their fourth child and only living daughter, Anna Maria, who had married ambassador Thomas Green Clemson. The couple moved to Fort Hill in 1872.

In 1899, Clemson's will transferred Fort Hill Plantation to the State of South Carolina for the establishment of an agricultural college. Clemson made this stipulation at the request of his wife, who wished to see her family's land employed for this purpose. The college, of course, would become Clemson University, a nationally-known institution which today serves as the second largest university in South Carolina. In 1943, the community elected to change its name from Calhoun to Clemson.

Clemson sits in the northwest corner of South Carolina, north of Anderson and southwest of Greenville. Clemson lies between Lake Keowee and Lake Hartwell, near Pendleton and Seneca. It is the home of Clemson University. Here is a map of the Clemson area.