However, this is not the location of the first telescope or observatory owned and run by USC. The first observatory on campus was actually constructed on the roof of one of the university’s oldest buildings.

USC Bucket List: #39. Stargaze from the Melton Observatory.

Trivia Tuesday:
Be the first to answer this week’s trivia question correctly in the comments to receive a No Limits t-shirt. What building now sits at the location of the first USC observatory?

Send your memories and high-resolution photos to Liz McCarthy at lizmccarthy@sc.edu for consideration or post photos to Instagram using the hashtag #UofSCwq by April 23. Please include your name, graduation year and a memory or photo caption.

Browse Garnet and Black yearbooks from 1899 to 1982 and historic photos of USC buildings online in the USC Archives.

A Timeline of the Women’s Quad

Wade Hampton – 1924
The original Wade Hampton residence hall was constructed in 1924 and was the first women’s dormitory at the University of South Carolina. Its construction ended a long debate over whether or not a women’s dorm should be built at all, since coeducation was still unpopular in some circles. Female students were first admitted to the University in 1895, but were not allowed to live on campus until World War I, and that was a temporary arrangement due to the loss of male students to the armed services. It is named for Wade Hampton III, a Confederate general, South Carolina governor and United States senator.

Sims – 1939
Sims College was part of an extensive building program at the University in the late 1930s as part of the New Deal. The women’s residence hall was constructed in 1939 and named for South Carolina College alumnus James Marion Sims, an internationally known physician who was instrumental in the formation of gynecology as a medical specialty.

McClintock – 1955
This women’s residence hall, constructed in 1955, was the first building on USC’s campus named for a woman. It is named for Euphemia McClintock, who headed the College of Women in Columbia, S.C.

Wade Hampton – 1959
The original Wade Hampton College was destroyed in 1959 and a new building with the same name was constructed in its place.