Arnold School of Public Health

Built: 2006
Original use: School of Public Health
Current use: School of Public Health
Named after: Norman J. and Gerry Sue Arnold, who gifted $10 million to the School of Public Health. Named after them in 2000. They also helped establish an Institute on Aging in 2015. Initial gift inspired by Norman Arnold’s battle against pancreatic cancer.
Notable history: The school is partially housed in the Discovery I Health Sciences Research Building, primary office is the Public Health Research Center on Assembly. Part of USC’s Innovista economic development program. Horizon I and Discovery I buildings funded by the state legislature’s Research University Infrastructure Act in 2004.

Barringer House

Built: c. 1950, designed by George Baetsil
Original use: alumni house
Current use: event venue
Named after: Flora M. Barringer (1900-1989), who sold her house to the university in 1972. Co-owner of a hotel chain, including the Columbia Hotel and the Barringer Building. Was given an honorary life membership to the Alumni Association for her gift.
Notable history:

Barnwell College

Built: 1910
Original use: science departments
Current use: psychology department
Named after: University president Robert W. Barnwell, 1835-1841, chairman of faculty 1866-1873. Removed as chairman when the university integrated. Confederate politician.
Notable history: Originally known as LeConte. Named after Barnwell at a board meeting in 1952.

Bates House/Bates West

Built: Bates House 1969 (Upshur, Ruley & Bultman), Bates West 1974.
Original use: student housing
Current use: student housing
Named after: Jeff B. Bates, S.C. state treasurer from 1940 until his death in 1966.
Notable history: Slated for demolition, current quarantine location for students with COVID. Bates West was the first co-ed residence hall.

Belser Arboretum

Built: 1959 (deeded to university)
Original use: nature preserve
Current use: nature preserve, earth sciences teaching lab
Named after: W. Gordon Belser, who gifted the land
Notable history:

Benson School

Built: 1953, James B. Urquhart
Original use: elementary school
Current use: Environmental Health and Safety, Center for Child and Family Studies
Named after: Florence C. Benson (d. 1956) in 1957, long-time teacher at the school.
Notable history: Built as an “equalization school” to prove that the separate but equal schools were equal. Originally called the Wheeler Hill Elementary School for Negroes. School closed in 1976 after rampant displacement of Wheeler Hill residents due to urban renewal.

Bignon Gameday Center

Built: 2015
Original use: athletic fan apparel
Current use: athletic fan apparel
Named after: Ed and Vicki Bignon, donors, Columbia residents.
Notable history: As of 2015 it was operated by Barnes & Noble. Also hosts the ticket office and used sustainable construction methods and reduces water and energy use.

Blatt P.E. Center

Built: 1971, Lafaye, Lafaye and Associates architects; 1975 addition
Original use: physical education center
Current use: physical education center
Named after: Solomon Blatt Sr. (1895-1986), law school alumnus ’17; SC House Representative, South Carolina Speaker of the House 1937-47, 1951-73; University of South Carolina Board of Trustees member 1935-47. Strong proponent of industrial development in the state, staunch supporter of segregation in the state and at the university in particular. As Speaker of the S.C. House, passed 28 laws designed to circumvent public school desegregation. Wrote to President Sumwalt to encourage him to fire a non-tenured professor Joseph Margolis due to his public anti-segregation beliefs and told Donald Russell that higher ed professor Newton Edwards should not critique segregation while representing the University of South Carolina.
Notable history:

Booker T. Washington Auditorium

Built: 1916; only 1956 auditorium is still standing
Original use: Black high school, then School of Medicine labs, early childhood ed facilities, University Post Office
Current use: auditorium, classroom space, exhibit.
Named after: Black intellectual Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), founder of now-Tuskegee University and the National Negro Business League. Advised multiple U.S. presidents.
Notable history: Acquired by the university in 1974, though many buildings demolished. Auditorium remains and will soon host a civil rights exhibit. The school was originally an elementary school until expanded to a high school in 1924. For many years it was the largest African American high school in the state.

Byrnes Building

Built: 1953, Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff, opened 1957.
Original use: city’s federal building
Current use: various academic offices
Named after: James F. Byrnes (1879-1972), Governor, U.N. representative, U.S. Secretary of State, court justice, Congressman, U.S. Senator. Avid segregationist, opposed to desegregation. Pushed for “equalization schools” to prove that separate but equal was a just system.
Notable history: Acquired by the university in 1980 after the Strom Thurmond Federal Complex built. Byrnes and Cornell Arms were not a part of recent City of Columbia and University of South Carolina university plan.

Callcott Social Sciences Center

Built: 1955, architect Hopkins, Baker and Gill
Original use: business administration
Current use: social sciences
Named after: Wilfrid H. Callcott (1895-1969), worked at the university for 45 years as a history professor, dean of graduate school, then faculty, then university. Scolded graduate students Selden Smith and Hayes Mizell in 1961 for participating in Civil Rights sit ins, saying the university did not want “agitators of either stripe.”
Notable history: Building named Callcott in 1973, when the business school moved to a larger building.

Charles F. Crews football facility

Built: 2005
Original use: football facility
Current use: football weight rooms and meeting rooms
Named after: Dr. Charles F. Crews (1917-2011), who gave a large gift for the football facility’s construction. Undergrad 1943, medical school 1947. Surgeon in Richland and Lexington County private practice for more than 30 years. Received Order of the Palmetto, University of South Carolina Distinguished Alumnus Award. Notable history

Close-Hipp Buildings

Built: 1973 (Close), 1983 (Hipp)
Original use: business school
Current use: College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management and Montgomery Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.
Named after: S.C. businessmen H. William Close (1919-1983) and Francis M. Hipp (1911-1995). Close owned Springs Industries, Inc., a successful manufacturing company. Received Order of the Palmetto, chairman of university president’s National Advisory Council, charter member and former chairman of the college’s Business Partnership Foundation. Hipp was also a charter member. Hipp was chairman of the State Development Board from 1959 to 1963, and is credited for helping recruit industry to S.C. He was the chairman of Liberty Life Insurance.
Notable history: Housed Darla Moore School of Business and Student Counseling Services before their relocations. Was originally to be leased by the U.S. Department of Justice for 20 years, but they severed the lease.

Coker Life Sciences Building

Built: 1973, architects Gill, Wilkins and Wood
Original use: academic space, Biological Sciences Center
Current use: academic space, life sciences
Named after: David R. Coker (1870-1938), alumnus and Board of Trustee member. Known for agricultural and business developments surrounding staple cotton varieties.
Notable history: Originally the name was given to what is now the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, when biology and the College of Pharmacy left that building for the new building in 1976, the name went with them.

Currell College

Built: 1918, architects Edwards and Sayward
Original use: law school
Current use: academic space
Named after: William Spenser Currell (1858-1943), college president 1914-1923. Established military training on campus during WWI and allowed housing for female students for the first time.
Notable history: Named Petigru for James L. Petigru, S.C. lawyer, until 1950 when the law school moved to a new building and the name Petigru went with it. The names under the windows are of noted S.C. lawyers and judges. Officially named Currell College in 1952 by the Board of Trustees.

Darla Moore School of Business

Built: 2013
Original use: business school
Current use: business school
Named after: Darla Moore in 1998. Moore is a university graduate and Wall Street financier. Was vice president of Rainwater Inc. private investing. Founder and chair of Palmetto Institute and Charleston Parks Conservatory. First woman profiled on cover of Fortune magazine. Removed from Board of Trustees by Gov. Nikki Haley in 2011.
Notable history: South Carolina was the first major university to name its business school after a woman. Business school was founded in 1919, and before the move to the new Moore Building was housed in Close-Hipp. Darla Moore has donated at least $60 million to the business school.

DeSaussure College

Built: commissioned 1803, began 1805, completed 1809. Architect Richard Clark. “Twin” of Rutledge.
Original use: student residence, academic space
Current use: student residence, academic offices
Named after: Originally called North Building or “Old North,” named after Henry William DeSaussure (1763-1839) in 1848. Revolutionary War vet, mayor of Charleston and Columbia, framer of S.C. Constitution, chancellor of South Carolina, second director of U.S. Mint. Founder of South Carolina College along with Charles C. Pinckney, co-sponsored legislation for the college. Slaveowner.
Notable history: Fire destroyed the west wing in 1851. Part of the Confederate hospital after 1862. Operated as a U.S. Army prison in 1865, with refugees from the city’s burning in 1865 living in the wings until January 1866. Housed the university’s first medical school from 1867 to 1873. Skeletal remains of cadavers found behind east wing in 2009, likely used by medical students for dissection. Housed some of the first Black students from 1873-1877, became the first women’s dormitory in 1918. Housed the president’s office until 1952.

Davis College

Built: completed 1909, Charles C. Wilson
Original use: English, history, other departments
Current use: School of Information Science
Named after: R. Means Davis (1849-1904) history professor.
Notable history: First academic building constructed since the Civil War. Named Davis College by the Board of Trustees Jan. 10, 2013.

Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center

Built: 2010
Original use: student athlete center — dining hall and academic center
Current use: student athlete center — dining hall and academic center
Named after: Dodie Anderson (1928-2020), donor to several UofSC athletic facilities. Received Order of the Palmetto in 2019.
Notable history: Often called “The Dodie”

Drayton Hall

Built: 1932
Original use: auditorium for University High School
Current use: Department of Theatre and Dance and USC Opera venue
Named after: John Drayton (1766-1822), South Carolina governor, helped found South Carolina College, federal judge for S.C.; botanist; wealthy slaveowner — owned approximately 76,000 acres of plantation land
Notable history: Board of Trustees approved the building name on Sept. 4, 1931. Located in Wardlaw College. Renovated in 1989, 404 seats.

Elliott College

Built: 1836, opened 1837, built by Wade and Davis
Original use: student housing
Current use: student housing
Named after: Called New North until 1848 named after Stephen Elliott (1771-1830). Scientist, botanist, slaveowner, educator, state legislator, professor, founder and president of the Bank of South Carolina. Helped found Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. “Father of Southern botany.”
Notable history:

Eugene E. Stone III Stadium

Built: 1996
Original use: soccer stadium
Current use: soccer stadium
Named after: University graduate Eugene E. Stone III (d. 1997), who donated $1 million for construction of the stadium grandstand. Chairman of Stone Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Notable history: Soccer was first played in the “Graveyard,” and later the Field House before finding its home at the stadium.

Flinn Hall

Built: 1860. Robert W. Johnson, contractor.
Original use: named Fourth Professors House, lodging for professors and their families.
Current use: academic offices
Named after: Philosophy professor John William Flinn (1847-1907) in 1901. Flinn, a Confederate veteran, lived in the house from 1890 to 1905, and raised funds for a student center in the building.
Notable history: House built with slave quarters, likely chemistry professor and home resident John LeConte housed one of his 12 slaves on campus. Converted into a YMCA and student activities center in 1910. Building relocated in 1935 to make room for the War Memorial.

Floyd Football Building

Built: 1994
Original use: Gamecock offices and support staff
Current use: Gamecock offices and support staff
Named after: Kay and Eddie Floyd. Eddie is a current Board of Trustee member, having served more than 38 years, retired heart surgeon, and top state Republican fundraiser. Avid art collector, removed painting by Adolf Hitler on display at his home in 2017.
Notable history: money allotted for renovation in 2018. Football coaches moved from Floyd to the new $50 million football operations center in 2019.

Fraser Hall

Built: 1970, adjoins to McMaster
Original use: recital hall
Current use: recital-performance hall
Named after: Arthur Fraser (1915-1972); head of music department from 1963 to 1972.
Notable history: Built to accommodate needs for more rehearsal space and performance hall for School of Music in 1970.

Gambrell Hall

Built: 1975; architect J.E. Sirrine
Original use: classroom buildings and offices
Current use: humanities departments
Named after: E. Smythe Gambrell (1896-1986), lawyer, American Bar Association president 1955-56, donated $1 million to the university and asked that the building be named for his sister, Dr. Mary Latimer Gambrell (1889-1974), former president of Hunter College of New York and history Ph.D.
Notable history:

Wade Hampton

Built: 1924, demolished 1958, new house constructed by Lockwood Greene Engineers and John. C. Heslep Construction Company. Renovated by University architect Frank Williams in 1965, 1970, 1975. Major renovation in 2013.
Original use: student residence
Current use: student residence, administration offices
Named after: Named after Wade Hampton III (1818-1902) in 1940. Confederate officer, organizer of Hampton Legion, U.S. senator, governor whose campaign was supported by violent Red Shirts and the KKK, slaveowner. No connection to women’s history.
Notable history: First women’s dorm, housed 85 women. Housed only freshmen and graduates when Sims was built in 1939. In the original Wade Hampton structure, men could only visit the parlor and only at certain hours. New Wade Hampton residence hall designed to mirror McClintock. Southern wing connected to eastern wing of Sims in 2013, connecting all of the Women’s Quad buildings.

Hamilton College

Built: 1943
Original use: military programs, ROTC
Current use: School of Social Work
Named after: Paul Hamilton (1762-1816), S.C. governor (1804-1806), Secretary of the U.S. Navy (1809-1812); slaveowner, enacted policies to foster growth of slave economy in S.C.
Notable history: Built during WWII for several officers’ programs on campus operated by the U.S. Navy. Housed classrooms and an armory. Armory was the practice court for the basketball team after 1968.

Harper College

Built: 1848, contractor J.N. Schofield. “Twin” of Legare College
Original use: student residence, academic space
Current use: student residence, admin offices
Named after: William Harper (1790-1847), graduate of South Carolina College (1808), state legislator, U.S. senator, judge, state chancellor, and member of the Board of Trustees.
Notable history: Erected on site of original Steward’s Hall, the college dining facility. Harper College was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Four rooms used as military prison by U.S. Army in 1865.

Gressette Room in Harper College

Third floor designed as a meeting space for the Euphradian Society. Euphradian Hall renovated in 1980s and renamed for alumnus and member L. Marion Gressette (1902-1984), where it is still used as a meeting space. Gressette was a staunch segregationist who chaired a special legislative committee that led legal efforts to avoid desegregation in South Carolina when he was a S.C. state legislator. His influence on this committee was so strong that it came to be called the “Gressette Committee.” Advocated for the firing of USC professors who spoke out against segregation in the 1950s, arguing that they exposed students to opinions that went against “the overwhelming” sentiment of South Carolinians. Successfully prevented ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in South Carolina in 1978.

Hollings Special Collections Library

Built: dedicated July 2010.
Original use: special collections
Current use: special collections
Named after: Ernest F. Hollings (1922-2019), U.S. senator from S.C., 1966-2005; Lt. Governor of S.C. 1955-1959; S.C. governor, 1959-1963. Though a segregationist, encouraged S.C. to peacefully transition after the federal court rulings for integration.
Notable history:

Horry-Guignard House

Built: c. 1813
Original use: private residence
Current use: law school
Named after: Peter Horry (1747-1815), colonel in the American Revolution, who bought the house from brother-in-law James G. Guignard. Horry’s Guignard nieces inherited the property, and it later belonged to John Gabriel Guignard (1751-1822), surveyor general of S.C. who laid out Columbia’s first streets. Both were slaveowners.
Notable history: Added to the National Register in 1969, saved from a fire in 2016. An outbuilding from the 19th century was also restored for the School of Law, completed in 2017. Before the law school acquired the building, it was the headquarters of the Columbia Music Festival Association. Enslaved workers both lived and worked in the house and on a large adjacent four-acre block.

John M. Palms Center

Built: 2000
Original use: chemistry research center
Current use: Department of Chemistry
Named after: John M. Palms (b. 1935), nuclear physicist and professor, university president 1991-2002.
Notable history: Named for John M. Palms in 2012. Building also known as the Graduate Science Research Center.

Jones Physical Sciences Building

Built: 1967, Baker, Gill and Wilkins architects
Original use: chemistry/physics
Current use: physical sciences
Named after: Thomas F. Jones, university president 1962-1974
Notable history: Modern architecture intended to represent the university’s development into a science research center. Part of the science complex (Jones Physical Sciences, Earth and Water Sciences Building, Coker Life Sciences Building)

Koger Center for the Arts

Built: 1988
Original use: performing arts facility
Current use: performing arts facility
Named after: Ira (1912-2004) and Nancy Tedder Koger, (1915-2005), art collectors and patrons who donated to its construction. Ira Koger attended law school at USC, served in S.C. General Assembly at age 21.
Notable history:

LeConte College

Built: 1952, J. Carroll Johnson
Original use: science hall
Current use: academic departments and classrooms
Named after: John (1818-1891) and Joseph (1823-1901) LeConte, university professors. John eventually supported secession, Joseph was an ardent Confederate, worked for Confederate Nitrate & Mining Bureau, opposed to Reconstruction. Both men owned slaves and used slave labor on campus.
Notable history: Original LeConte building is now Barnwell. When this building was constructed, it took the name LeConte.

Legare College

Built: 1848, contractor J.N. Schofield. “Twin” of Harper College
Original use: student residence, academic space
Current use: student residence, admin offices
Named after: Hugh Swinton Legare (1797-1843), 1817 alumnus, former president of Clariosophic Literary Society; state representative, S.C. attorney general, U.S. congressman, U.S. attorney general, interim U.S. secretary of state. Supported states’ rights but opposed nullification. Advocated for removal of Seminole tribe from Florida, arguing that “they cannot exist in the midst of the white race.”
Notable history: Third floor designed as a meeting space for the Clariosophic Society. Used as hospital during the Civil War. Refugees lived in Legare as late as 1866 after Columbia was burned in February 1865. Provided housing for the majority of the school’s students in 1873, when the school was integrated. First Black graduate of the school, T. McCants Stewart (1853-1923), lived in Legare.

Lieber College

Built: 1837, Thomas H. Wade, contractor.
Original use: duplex meant to house two faculty families — originally named Third Professor’s House
Current use: Converted to classrooms and offices in the 1940s.
Named after: In 1946 named for Francis Lieber (1800-1872), resident of the house, Encyclopedia Americana founder, professor of history and political economy 1835-1855. Slaveowner, but hostile to secession and eventually moved north and became antislavery.
Notable history: Home of Francis Lieber from 1837-1856. Stephen Elliott lived in other half. James Thornwell and Joseph LeConte also residents. In 1840 at least 11 slaves owned by the residents lived on the grounds. Joseph LeConte’s family lived in the college during the Civil War and the burning of Columbia in 1865. Home of African American faculty member Richard T. Greener in 1873, home of Professor Andrew Charles Moore in 1904. Moore died in Lieber College in 1928, and that same night his favorite tree fell on the college during a storm. Site of Columbia Garden Club’s Memorial Garden.

Longstreet Theatre

Built: 1855, James Troy and Thomas H. Wade defaulted on contract, replaced with William Maybin. Jacob Graves, architect.
Original use: intended to be a college hall, chapel, poor acoustics made it impossible. Housed a laboratory, gym, science department, natatorium.
Current use: theater
Named after: Originally called College Hall, then Science Hall in 1888. Named after Augustus Longstreet (1790-1870) in 1968 by the board of trustees. Longstreet was college president from 1857 to 1861 and very pro-secession. His speeches helped spur the student body to leave the college and join the Confederacy.
Notable history: Used as a Civil War military hospital, outfitted with 300 beds and a morgue. Used as an arsenal and armory from 1870 to 1887. After its tenure as a science hall with a basement gym, the Works Progress Administration funded construction of an indoor swimming pool addition to the rear of the building in 1939. Natatorium and the rest of the theater converted into a theater in the round, fixed the poor acoustics and opened as a theater in 1977.

Maxcy College

Built: 1937 by Lafaye and Lafaye, ~half the cost funded by Public Works Admin.
Original use: student residence, originally planned as student union building
Current use: student residence
Named after: Jonathan Maxcy (1768-1820) first and longest serving president (14 years). Baptist minister. Proposed that a wall be built around the school to keep students contained.
Notable history: Had a popular student lounge/canteen in its basement. Name approved by BOT in 1940.

McCutchen House

Built: 1813, architect unknown
Original use: First known as Second Professor’s House, accommodated two faculty families.
Current use: restaurant
Named after: George McCutchen (1876-1951), who lived in the house from 1915-1945. Taught economics at South Carolina from 1900-1948.
Notable history: Home of longtime professor Maximillian LaBorde from 1842 to 1873. After 1945, housed the Registrar’s Office and College of Nursing. Abandoned slave quarters found in the attic in 1974, along with names, dates and slave bills of sale corresponding to those dates. Interior quarters destroyed in 1975 to install air conditioning — records have not been located since. After 1970s renovation, building converted into faculty club with restaurant. Eventually, Faculty House closed and in 2003 the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management opened its restaurant.

McBryde Quadrangle

Built: 1955, Lafaye, Fair and Lafaye architects, George A. Creed Construction Original use; all-male student housing
Current use: all male student housing, first floors have different usages
Named after: John M. McBryde in 1968, after being called Fraternity Row for more than a decade. McBryde was an alumnus, teacher, chairman of the faculty 1883-1888 and college president 1888 to 1891. Served in the tax office for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Notable history: Originally held all the university’s fraternity men, known as frat row — five of the original seven buildings remain. Built simultaneously with Wade Hampton, the women’s dorm — only the women’s dorm contained a kitchen. Each fraternity was to have its own floor. Fraternities started moving off campus when university stated its intention to construct Greek Village in 1998. Some buildings demolished during expansion of Hollings Special Collections Library.

McClintock College

Built: 1955, architect Lockwood, Greene Engineers Original use; student housing
Current use: student housing
Named after: Euphemia McClintock (1870-1953), president of the College for Women from 1908 to 1915 when the school consolidated with Chicora College. Attempted to make a conditional merger between College for Women and the university, but that effort failed.
Notable history:

McMaster College

Built: 1911, Edwards and Walter architects Original use; public grammar school
Current use: School of Visual Art and Design
Named after: Colonel F. W. McMaster (1826-1929), colonel in the Confederacy, S.C. state congressman, chairman of the first board of school commissioners, Columbia mayor. Treasurer and Librarian of South Carolina College 1848-1856.
Notable history: Building already named McMaster when purchased by the University of South Carolina in 1960. University renovated the building for the School of Music, which has since relocated.

McKissick Museum

Built: 1940, architect Henry C. Hibbs
Original use: library
Current use: museum, Visitor Center
Named after: J. Rion McKissick (1894-1944), university president. Dean of journalism school from 1927 until he became president in 1936. Journalist. Laid in repose in the building in 1944.
Notable history: Partially funded by the Works Progress Association. Meant to be the new main library and sit behind the President’s House. The President’s House became structurally unsound, however, and after housing construction materials, it was demolished in 1939-1940. McKissick became the graduate library when the collections split in 1959 until 1976, when the collections reunited at Thomas Cooper Library. Rededicated as McKissick Museum in 1984, houses university’s museum collections.

Melton Observatory

Built: 1928 Original use; telescope
Current use: telescope
Named after: William D. Melton, college president from 1922 until his sudden death in 1926.
Notable history: Made possible from a $15,000 gift from Edwin G. Seibels, at the time the largest gift made to the university by an alumnus. Observatory has a 16-inch reflecting telescope.

Osborne Administration Building

Built: 1952, architect J. Carroll Johnson
Original use: administration offices
Current use: administration offices
Named after: Rutledge L. Osborne (1895-1984). Member of Board of Trustees from 1947 to 1975, served as board chairman from 1952-1970, longer than any other in USC history. Chairman during the university’s desegregation. The Board of Trustees, with Osborne at its head, fired Chester Travelstead, dean of the College of Education, for speaking out against segregation, claiming that university employees were not to discuss controversial issues. He was replaced with William W. Savage, a man with “impeccable segregationist credentials.” University desegregation, however, was completed peacefully once the government and school officials realized they had no more legal routes of evasion.
Notable history: First building explicitly constructed for exclusively administrative offices. Site of campus desegregation in 1963. Garden, established in the 1950s, renovated and rededicated as the 1963 Desegregation Commemoration Garden in 2014, which contains topiary art by Pearl Fryer and a monument with a poem from professor and National Book Award winner Nikky Finney. Students briefly occupied Osborne in May 1970 in protest of the shooting of Kent State University students by the National Guard. University officials called in the S.C. National Guard and SLED, who repelled the students with tear gas.

Pastides Alumni Center

Built: 2015 Original use; Alumni Center event space
Current use: Alumni Center event space
Named after: Dr. Harris Pastides, president of university from 2008 to 2019.
Notable history: Alumni Center named after Pastides in 2019.

Patterson Hall

Built: 1962; Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle and Wolff architects, Congaree Construction Company contractor. Original use; women’s dorms
Current use: student housing
Named after: university president William H. Patterson (1974-1977).
Notable history: Originally called South Building. Massive renovation in 2012.

Petigru College

Built: 1950 Original use; law school
Current use: College of Arts and Sciences administration
Named after: James L. Petigru (1789-1863), S.C. attorney; college alumnus, S.C. Attorney General in 1822, S.C. House of Representatives in 1830. Anti-nullification, anti-secession.
Notable history: Law school was initially housed in what is now Currell College but was then named Petigru, the new building in 1950 took the name Petigru. The name remained when a new law center was built in 1973.

Pinckney College

Built: 1836, completed 1837, complement of Elliott college. Potentially constructed by Wade and Davis.
Original use: student dormitory
Current use: student residence
Named after: Called New South until named Pinckney in 1848. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825) and Charles Pinckney (1757-1824). Charles C. Pinckney was a lawyer, slaveowner (owned 250 in 1801), Revolutionary War general, attended Constitutional Convention, signer of the Constitution. Helped to found South Carolina College with cousin Charles Pinckney and Henry William DeSaussure. One of the first members of the college’s Board of Trustees. Charles Pinckney was a lawyer, Revolutionary War lieutenant, writer and signer of the Constitution, S.C. governor, U.S. congressman, U.S. minister to Spain. Owned between 200 and 300 slaves, potentially fathered enslaved children.
Notable history:

Preston College

Built: 1939, Hopkins and Baker Original use; student residence
Current use: student residence
Named after: William Campbell Preston (1794-1860), college president 1845-1851. Alumnus of the college (1812). Member of U.S. House and Senate for S.C., practiced law in Columbia. Staunch slavery and states’ rights supporter.
Notable history: Constructed as part of building program funded by the Public Works Administration, which funded nearly half the cost.

Rice Athletic Center

Built: Dedicated 2012 Original use; student athletics, ticket office
Current use: student athletics, ticket office
Named after: Joe and Lisa Rice, major contributors to the facility. Both graduated from university and now live in Charleston. Rice is a well-known lawyer.
Notable history: Building cost $8.5 million dollars. Entry point of Roost Athletics Village.

Russell House

Built: 1955, architects Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle and Wolff Original use; student union building
Current use: student union, student life
Named after: University president Donald Stuart Russell (1906-1998) 1952-1957; state senator 1965-1966; S.C. governor 1963-65; judge of U.S. District Court in S.C. 1966-71; judge of 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 1971-98. Pioneered the idea that university should be the liberal arts college for the state, promoted campus expansion and rehabilitation. Under Russell, College of Education Dean Chester Travelstead was fired for speaking out against segregation, and Russell would later brag that he fired “a man named Travelstead.” Travelstead later claimed that the university president was not racist or a bigot but was not willing to risk his political career by loudly opposing segregation. As governor, continued the legal fight against desegregation even after Clemson desegregated in 1963.
Notable history: Land was site of multiple athletic fields such as Melton Field, dedicated 1926. Gates were erected to honor the death of Dr. William Davis Melton, but were demolished when the Russell House was constructed. Expanded in 1958, 1967, 1978.

Rutledge College

Built: Opened 1805, built by architects Richard (likely) Clark, Robert Mills Original use; student/faculty residence, academic space, chapel, library.
Current use: student residence, academic offices, chapel.
Named after: Went by “the college,” “South” and “Old South” building until 1848 when named Rutledge after John and Edward Rutledge. John Rutledge (1739-1800) was S.C. governor, Supreme Court justice, state legislator, U.S. Congressman, representative to Constitutional Convention of 1787. Edward Rutledge (1749-1800) was S.C. governor, state legislator, youngest signer of Declaration of Independence, attended First and Second Continental Congresses on behalf of S.C. in 1774 and 1775. Owned as many as 60 slaves at one time, but only one at his time of death due to financial difficulty. Uncle of abolitionists and woman’s rights advocates Sarah and Angelina Grimké.
Notable history: Damaged in a fire in 1855, “twin” building of DeSaussure, used as Confederate hospital during Civil War, S.C. Congress met in Rutledge chapel and library in 1865 and 1866. U.S. troops occupied Rutledge in 1865. Site of State Normal School for Teachers from 1873 to 1877, which trained African American men and women as teachers. Normal School closed its doors after Reconstruction ended and the college resegregated and became all-male. Chapel attendance no longer mandatory after 1937, rededicated as interfaith chapel in 1956.

Sims College

Built: 1939; architect J. Carroll Johnson, Jessie W. Wessinger Original use; women’s housing
Current use: student housing
Named after: J. Marion Sims (1813-1883), “father of modern gynecology” who gained his knowledge of women’s bodies/the forceps by experimenting on enslaved women, rented out from local slaveowners. Did not use anesthesia, believed that black skin felt less pain.
Notable history: Largest of the dorms in the Women’s Quad. Partially funded by the Public Works Administration

Sloan College

Built: 1927 Original use; engineering, math, physics
Current use: sociology
Named after: University president Benjamin Sloan (1836-1923) 1902-1906. Served as a major in the Confederate army.
Notable history:

Spigner House

Built: 1915, Urquhart & Johnson Original use; private residence
Current use: venue
Named after: University alumna Henrietta Geddes Bailey (1916-2002), who gave the property to the university.
Notable history: Also known as the Boyne-Pressley-Spigner House. Built for Thomas A. Boyne and Isabel Allworden Boyne, sold to G. Trezevant and Annie Pressley in 1937, conveyed to the university in 1963 by Henrietta Geddes Bailey Spigner. Renovated 2009-2012.

Springs-Brooks Plaza

Built: 2015
Original use: grounds surrounding football stadium
Current use: grounds surrounding football stadium
Named after: Jack Springs (1935-2008) and his daughter Tami Springs-Brooks. Springs graduated from the university and outfitted the team with their travel blazers in the 1960s and ‘70s. Tami Brooks made contributions to the athletics department on her father’s behalf.
Notable history: At the end of the 2014 season 14 acres surrounding the stadium were upgraded.

Spurrier Practice Facility

Built: 2015
Original use: indoor football practice facility
Current use: indoor football practice facility
Named after: Jerri and Steve Spurrier. Spurrier was the football program’s all-time winningest coach during his tenure (2005-15).
Notable history: A LEED Silver facility (eco-friendly rating)

Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center

Built: Name chosen 1998, opened 2003
Original use: fitness center
Current use: fitness center
Named after: Strom Thurmond (1902-2003). U.S. state senator from S.C. 1954-2003. Ran for U.S. president in 1948. Longest speaking filibuster in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Opposed civil rights legislation, pro-segregation.
Notable history: Thurmond contributed $10,000 to fundraising.

Sumwalt College

Built: 1955, Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle and Wolff. Original use; engineering college
Current use: several, diverse departments
Named after: Robert L. Sumwalt (1895-1977) when he retired as president in 1962. Dean of College of Engineering 1945-1957, university president 1957-1962. Lobbied for increased faculty salaries, better curriculum. Fired non-tenured professor Joseph Margolis for his attacks on segregation.
Notable history: Steward’s Hall torn down for east wing of Sumwalt in 1959. Engineering school moved to Swearingen in 1987.

Swearingen Engineering Center

Built: 1987
Original use: School of Engineering
Current use: School of Engineering
Named after: John E. Swearingen Jr. (1918-2007). Class of ‘38 with a degree in chemical engineering. Chairman of Standard Oil and banker. Friend of Gerald Ford and opponent of federal regulation of the oil trade and the Department of Energy.
Notable history: Built because the School of Engineering needed more space.

Taylor House

Built: 1908, Architects Andrews, Jacques, and Rantoul
Original use: private residence
Current use: School of Law campus
Named after: Thomas Taylor Jr. (1866-1938), president of Taylor Manufacturing Company, V.P. of Carolina Glass Company, second vice president of Palmetto National Bank.
Notable history: The Taylor family donated the property to the Columbia Art Association in 1949 — served as the Columbia Museum of Art 1950-1998.

Thomas Cooper Library

Built: 1959, architects Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle and Wolff and Edward Durrell Stone, as the undergraduate library. Expansion in 1976.
Original use: library
Current use: library
Named after: In 1968, renamed after Thomas Cooper (1759-1839) — physician, scientist (chemistry, minerals, geology), university president 1820-1834. Slaveowner and defender of slavery as an institution. Became unpopular due to his religious clashes with Presbyterian church and others, publicly tried before University’s Board of Trustees in 1832. Stepped down soon after, when enrollment plummeted.
Notable history: Land was marching grounds and athletic fields before construction of Thomas Cooper. Davis field was a continuing fully functioning field until the mid 1960s. The Undergraduate Library housed only undergraduate materials from 1959 until the graduate library (McKissick) moved to join in 1976. Edward Durrell Stone won the First Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects for his design in 1963. University President Russell pushed for land acquisition on Devine Street by arguing that the University would beautify the slums.

Thomson Student Health Center

Built: 1973; architects Jackson and Miller Original use; student health
Current use: student mental health
Named after: A. Wallace Thomson, a former undergraduate and law school student. His aunt, Ann H. Jeter, made a donation in his memory in 1904.
Notable history: Original structure was the Thomson infirmary, built in 1908. Thomson became the center for mental health and wellbeing when the new Center for Health and Well-Being opened in 2017.

Thornwell College

Built: 1913, architect Charles C. Wilson, two wings added 1937
Original use: student residence
Current use: student residence, administrative offices
Named after: James Henley Thornwell (1812-1862), president of the college from 1851 to 1855. 1831 alumnus. Began as chaplain and professor of sacred literature in 1841. Faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary in 1855. Popular pro-slavery author whose sermons were frequently circulated to prove that slavery and slave owning were religiously permissible.
Notable history: First residence hall to be built for students since 1848.

Wardlaw College

Built: 1930, architect J. Carroll Johnson Original use; School of Education and high school
Current use: College of Education
Named after: Patterson Wardlaw (1859-1948), dean of the School of Education.
Notable history: Board of Trustees approved name in 1931. The university and Columbia public schools jointly founded the University High School in 1932 in Wardlaw. It provided teaching facilities for education majors, which was called a “laboratory school.” It was closed in 1966.

Wardle Golf House

Built: 2000
Original use: men and women's golf team
Current use: men and women's golf team, teaching center
Named after: Robert V. Wardle, donor.
Notable history: Golf house is located in Cobblestone Park, built in 1995 and home to university’s men’s and women’s golf teams.

Weems Baskin Track

Built: 1972 — track dedicated to Baskin Original use; outdoor track
Current use: outdoor track
Named after: Weems Baskin (d. 1993), head track and field coach at university 1948-69.
Notable history: Renovated in 2016.

Welsh Humanities Classroom and Office Buildings

Built: 1968; Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle and Wolff architects
Original use: humanities department
Current use: humanities department
Named after: John R. Welsh (1916-1974), English professor and vice president of instruction.
Notable history: Complex initially included a reflecting pool and sculpture, now it is the site of the Colloquium Café. Entire building now closed for health and renovation purposes.

Whaley House

Built: 1892
Original use: private residence
Current use: vacant
Named after: William Burroughs Smith Whaley (1866-1929), mill owner and architect (textile mill design engineer and architect firm W.B. Smith Whaley and Co.); owner of Granby, Olympia, Capital City and Columbia Richland mills.
Notable history: Whaley House was formerly the Dunbar Funeral Home (1925-1997). On the national register of historic places.

Williams-Brice College of Nursing

Built: 1974, architects Hallman-Weems; contractor McDevitt and Street
Original use: School of Nursing
Current use: School of Nursing
Named after: Martha Williams Brice, her husband Thomas H. Brice, and the Williams family, her parents. They left a significant amount of money to the University.
Notable history:

Williams-Brice Stadium

Built: 1934, Works Progress Administration. Expanded 1972 and 1982
Original use: stadium
Current use: stadium
Named after: Named Williams-Brice in 1972. Martha Williams Brice d.1969, her husband Thomas H. Brice, and her parents, the Williams. The 1970s expansions made possible by a gift from Martha Williams Brice’s estate. Thomas Brice played football for the university in 1922.
Notable history: Originally named Carolina Stadium. Deeded to USC in 1941. Turned into a horseshoe in the 1940s.

Woodrow College

Built: 1914, architect Charles C. Wilson
Original use: student residence
Current use: student residence
Named after: James Woodrow (1828-1907), university president 1891-1897. Admitted first women to the school in 1894. Uncle of President Woodrow Wilson, taught at Columbia Theological Seminary 1861-1886 — was convicted by General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church for preaching evolution and Christianity. Chief of Confederacy’s chemical laboratory in Columbia.
Notable history: First dormitory with central heating — students charged an extra $10 to live there. Used as a hospital during the influenza pandemic of 1918.

W.W. Hootie Johnson Hall

Built: 2014
Original use: performance hall
Current use: performance hall
Named after: W.W. “Hootie” Johnson (1931-2017). Founding member of USC Business Partnership Foundation, financial supporter of the Moore School, created an endowed chair in economics; chairman of Executive Committee of Bank of America’s Board; chairman of Augusta National, graduate of university and played football under Rex Enright.
Notable history: 500 seats, located inside Darla Moore School of Business