Cemetery Hill Project

06/01/2026

Happy Mapping Monday! Today's map follows our focus this summer on the Hartwell Reservoir project and its impact on Clemson University. This map from 1953 shows proposed development on campus, seemingly in response to the new reservoir and loss of land. In some proposals, the banks of the new lake were expected to be very close to the sports fields, stadium, cemetery, and south end of campus. Architects seem to have developed a land use plan based on what parts of campus would still be above water. Some of the buildings shown already existed in the 1950s but new structures were laid out to make the best use of the space and respond to the needs of the university. Ultimately, this plan was not implemented in full because campus lands were preserved through the construction of retaining dikes that kept the lake at bay. However, some of the new buildings—like the library—were completed as proposed or were later re-imagined in a similar form.



Source: Clemson University Special Collections and Archives

05/28/2026

In this final installment of the series, below are the remaining steps for creating a neighborhood study, as well as a summary of recommendations from the previous two posts.

05/18/2026

Happy Mapping Monday! Today's image is a photograph of the 1952 topographical map produced by the Army Corps of Engineers during the planning phase of the Hartwell Reservoir project. The original map is kept in Special Collections at Clemson University and shows the school and surrounding area. The printed map has been modified with red and blue tracing that follows topographic contour lines, presumably to show the predicted water levels of the planned reservoir. The earliest versions of the proposal showed that the water would cover significant parts of campus unless the Corps built retaining dikes or berms. At a height of 752 feet, Cemetery Hill was safely above the water line. The field at Memorial Stadium, at only 642 feet, was at risk.

Stay tuned for future posts with more maps from the Hartwell Reservoir project that show how it developed throughout the 1950s.

05/14/2026

Tracing genealogical neighborhoods allows us to see the ancestors not as isolated names, but as members of interconnected communities. In the last genealogy post, we looked at vital records, funeral programs, and obituaries. In this post, we view maps, census, and tax records as a way to help start your own genealogical neighborhood study.



Sources:
Calhoun Map - Map Calhoun S.C. 1915, Black Heritage in Upper Piedmont MSS 282, Box 6, Calhoun Neighborhood, Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.

Census Record - 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Pickens County, South Carolina, population schedule, Cato Sherman, Central Township, Sheet 5, Enumeration District 0118, Roll 1539, www.Ancestry.com, image 10 of 47, accessed 10 May 2026.

Tax Document - The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for South Carolina, 1864-1866; Series: M789; Roll: 1; Description: District 1; Annual, Monthly and Special Lists; Jan-Dec 1866; Record Group: 58, Records of the Internal Revenue Service, 1791 - 2006

05/08/2026

The Nathanael Greene Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) recently honored a team of Clemson University faculty and staff for their historic preservation efforts at Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground.

Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature Rhondda Thomas, Genealogist Deborah Robinson and Historic Preservation Officer Rick Owens accepted the Excellence in Historic Preservation Certificate and Medal from the NSDAR on April 23.

The Nathanael Greene Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) recently honored a team of Clemson University

05/04/2026

This semester, the Cemetery Preservation Creative Inquiry-Clemson team wrapped up work at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pendleton. Since spring of 2025, eleven undergraduate students enrolled in the class have put hundreds of hours into the project. They have documented the cemetery, restored grave markers, repaired and reset headstones, and conducted research on the families interred at St. Paul's. They have assessed and cleaned over 400 headstones, including the tablet-style marker for Floride Bonneau Colhoun Calhoun, wife of John C. Calhoun. They also surveyed the locations of over 500 grave sites. Over three semesters, the students have also been joined in their work by members of the community and other student organizations. Their effort has been highlighted in church and diocese newsletters, received an official Resolution of Appreciation from church, and has been the focus of stories by two local TV stations. As the collaboration with St. Paul's draws to a close, the class will begin coordinating a partnership with the next community cemetery to start in Fall 2026.

04/30/2026

Welcome to the Cemetery Hill Project's guide to rediscovering our shared history. In Pickens County, the landscape is a living archive. For many families in and around Clemson, the branches of the family tree lead through Clemson University, directly back to the Fort Hill Plantation, Clergy Hall, and adjacent agricultural estates that built this region.
Tracing these genealogical neighborhoods allows us to see the ancestors not as isolated names, but as members of interconnected communities. Over the next few weeks, using vital and census records, historical maps, tax records, funeral and church records, cemetery surveys, and plantation records, we will provide a step-by-step guide to help you start your own neighborhood study.



Sources:
-1840 U.S. Federal Census, Pickens County, South Carolina, population schedule, John C. Calhoun, Pickens District, page 354, Family History Library Film: 0022510, Roll 514, Ancestry, image 55 of 146.
-Record of Funerals, 1920-1924, Duckett Robinson Funeral Home, Central, South Carolina.
-South Carolina Board of Health, Certificate of Death, certificate no. 68-0022160, Fairfield County, Maggie Barber, died 16 Dec 1968, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8741/images/8741_i71693-00360?pId=1736733), accessed 29 April 2026.

04/20/2026

Mapping Monday Returns! This composite map from 1945 shows Cemetery Hill, Memorial Stadium, and the small segregated neighborhood called "The Bottoms" or "The River." Residents of these houses were African American families of employees who worked in the mess halls of Clemson University. Many of the families had ancestors among the sharecroppers and enslaved persons who had lived and worked the land for generations. Pathways connected the two rows of houses to campus, Cemetery Hill, and the Seneca River. By 1960, the residents had been removed and houses were demolished during the stadium expansion to make way for additional parking.



Source: Atlas of Clemson College Properties, 1945, Sections: B2, B3, B4 | Special Collections and Archives, Clemson University Libraries.

04/17/2026

Dr. Spencer Roberts and his Creative Inquiry team were recently featured in a news story about their preservation work at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pendleton, SC. We're so proud of the difference they are making in local historic cemeteries!

CLEMSON, S.C. (WSPA) – At St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, history is etched into every headstone. “We’re kind of centrally located. Many people come here just to walk around and expl…