Pendleton Historic Walking Tour Preview

Farmer's Society Hall

Guard House

The Guard House, which also served as a market place, was built circa 1860 on the site of the former town jail. The 1911 one story addition later served as the town library. Presently the upper level is the magistrate's office after serving as the town's police headquarters for many years.

Hunter's Store

This was one of the best known mercantiles in the Upstate. Built in 1850, it has served as the headquarters for the Pendleton District Historical, Recreational, and Tourism Commission since 1968. In 2016, the Commission was renamed to Lake Hartwell Country.

Hunter's Store Warehouse

This structure, the only survivor of several outbuildings used by the Hunter's Store, was erected in 1880. A notable feature is "the captain's walk" which captures the panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Lowther Hall

The home, built in 1793, for Dr. William Hunter, was purchased in 1815 for the Right Honorable William Lord Viscount Lowther, a Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain. It was expanded to its present size in 1895 by William Henry Trescott.

Edam Sharpe House

This 1818 "Upcountry" town house is one of the few still in existence. The plan of this home is based on the central hallway flanked by single rooms.

Boxwood

This circa 1811 residence had additions to the original house in 1825, 1836, and 1959. It earned its name because of the many boxwoods on the property, many of them believed to be over 160 years old. Outbuildings at one time served as carriage houses and storage for meat cured by the owners.

Gaillard House

W. H. D. Gaillard, one of the town’s leaders, built this home in the mid-1800s for his family. He was known for his involvement with the Blue Ridge Railroad and the Pendleton Cotton Mill. He also served as a warden for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for 40 years.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Erected by 1822, it served as the church for the Calhoun and Clemson families who are buried in the churchyard. Other notables buried here include Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and two Confederate Generals – Barnard E. Bee and Clement Hoffman Stevens.

Simpson House

This home belonged to Richard Wright Simpson, a legislator and an attorney, who wrote Thomas G. Clemson’s will. This will led to the establishment of Clemson University, of which Simpson was the first chairman of the board of trustees.

Poe House

Mrs. Ellen Taylor Poe, a widow, built this residence in 1860 upon returning to Pendleton with her small children.

Pickens House

Dr. Thomas Pickens built this charming house in 1860 as a wedding present for his bride. She refused to live in this house, preferring the one her parents owned. The Green and Sitton families instead occupied it in early years. Virtually all construction is original, with the exception of the brick wall surrounding the property.

Vine Hill

Vine Hill, built in 1830, received its name from an owner who found fourteen types of unrestrained vines in the garden. The house was Elizabeth Carolina Ball’s wedding gift upon her marriage to Lt. Edmund Templar Shubrick, USN of Charleston, SC. It is believed that, because of Shubrick’s friendship with the infamous General Sherman, Pendleton was spared the wrath and flames of Union soldiers.

Pendleton Oil Mill

Although construction time is unknown, an 1897 map labels it as the Pendleton Gin. The original function of the mill was to extract valuable oil from cotton seeds.

Dorolon

J. Norton Hunter built this home in 1880. He welcomed his mother-in-law, an exiled Polish countess, into the home where she taught piano and voice lessons.

Bee House

Col. Barnard Bee erected this residence around 1833. Bee and his son Hamilton were instrumental in the establishment of Texas. Another son, Barnard E. Bee, became legendary in the first year of the Civil War.

East Main Street

On the streets around the Village Green are numerous shops and restaurants. One section on East Main Street is the altered but original structure of Steele’s Store built in 1791. Most other buildings are early 1900s, replacements of earlier wooden stores.

Sitton House

Built in 1859, this was the first brick residence in Pendleton. Generations of the Sitton family have been its sole occupants. The Post Office was located in one of its rooms for several years. The original appearance remains virtually intact even though some modernizing renovations have been made.

James Hunter House

(a) This wood frame house, constructed in 1860, is identical in plan and elevation to the Sitton House directly across the street.(b) Existing to the right of the house is a small brick building which may have been Hunter’s blacksmith shop but could have been an earlier tin shop. It served as headquarters for the Jones Rifles during the Civil War.

Keese Barn

On this site, Pendleton resident Ben Keese built a café known as The Hundreds for the many African-Americans who congregated there. Later it expanded to two stories and included Ben Keese’s Antiques, for which he was famous. In 1999, Clemson University Department of Architecture students dismantled the building and erected this memorial.

Marshalsea

This structure was built in the early 1820s as the district jail. It later housed the Pendleton Female Academy. The name “Marshalsea” is taken from a London jail mentioned in a Charles Dickens’ novel.

The First Farmers Hall

This structure was the first hall for the Pendleton Farmer's Society. Joseph Van Shanklin donated land for the hall and members of the Society donated materials and labor to complete the building in 1815. It later served as the meeting place for the congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church during the construction of their building and a boarding house for teachers at the adjacent Pendleton Female Academy.

Silver Spring Baptist Church

In 1874, African-American Pendleton residents began this church (23A), named for the spring on the property. Many youth received their early education here, including Jane Hunter, who went on to found the Phillis Wheatley Association. Reconstruction of the site will house the Cultural Center of Pendleton upon completion. The congregation worships on N. Mechanic Street in the current church building (23B) completed in 1962.

Winston House

Elijah Winston, a slave and later blacksmith, built this home around 1830 on land he obtained after he was freed. Winston divided his land and gave portions to his fourteen children, and descendants still reside there to this day. Located on Brown Rd.

Benson House

Benson House was built circa 1800. This house was once owned by E. B. Benson, who bought it in 1815. He was a storeowner and also the sheriff of Pendleton District from 1800-1815.

King Chapel AME Church

This church was organized in 1889 and met in an earlier building under various names until the present structure was built in 1957. A nearby historical marker commemorates the first African-American public school in Pendleton.

Gallows Hill

Named because of an alleged hanging on the property in the past, this 1840 house was begun by Col. Joseph Taylor and in the 1860s was a home of the Rev. Dr. John B. Adger. The house was restored and expanded in 1985 and is located at 441 Greenville St.

Carver Randal House

This house was standing when Carver Randal came to Pendleton in 1846 to practice law. It is located on Medlock Circle, off SC Highway 88.

Jenkins House

Dr. William Seabrook Jenkins was a regimental surgeon in the Confederate Army. He began his Pendleton practice in 1837 with this structure serving as his office.

Pendleton United Methodist Church

This Methodist church was organized in 1835 on the corner of Broad and Cherry Streets. The original frame church burned and was replaced with a brick structure in 1948. The stained glass window above the entry is original to the 1948 structure and joins the past to the present in the current sanctuary built in 1985.

The First Baptist Church

This church, organized in 1842, is in a 1951 building erected on the site of the original.

Presbyterian Church

At the intersection of Broad and S. Mechanic Streets is the 1897 Presbyterian Church. The congregation, organized in 1789, built and occupied the Old Stone Church near Clemson for some time.

The Glen

Built around 1835 by Dr. Arthur S. Gibbes, it later was owned by the Samuel Maxwells. This home was the “wedding present” in which Mrs. Thomas Pickens preferred to reside (as referred to in the Pickens House information).

Mi Casa

Friendville, Dunean, Mi Casa, and Belvedere are among the many names that have been given to this house on the hill, built circa 1830 by Dr. James Stuart of Beaufort. When the widowed Mrs. John C. Calhoun purchased it, she gave it the best known name of Mi Casa — my house.

Liberty Hall

Built in the 1840’s and once known as Harris Hall, this beautiful structure is now known as Liberty Hall, which has often served as an inn welcoming visitors to the area.