Fort Hill, Kitchen, Clemson University Campus, Clemson

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS SC,39-CLEM,1B-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Kitchen building sits in the Fort Hill complex that is, in tum, within the confines of Clemson University. Clemson (both town and university) is located in Pickens County, South Carolina. Description: The reconstructed kitchen is a one-story rectangle measuring about x 21 Tradition suggests it had a loft space above the work room. Resting on a brick and field stone foundation, the wood frame is sheathed in clapboards with flush siding. Structurally, the kitchen is supported by (exposed) hewn rafters. It is heated by one exterior end chimney made of brick and covered in stucco. A domed top covers the chimney cap. The kitchen has a gable roof with cedar shakes. A simple cornice wraps around the building.

There are two entrances into the kitchen; both have (vertical) board and batten doors. These entries are in the south and east facades. Three windows light the kitchen. They are nine-over-nine double hung sash. There are no shutters. Inside, the kitchen consists of one room. Stone steps lead into the kitchen from the south side door. The floor is made of stone. The interior is unfinished, leaving the hewn log construction exposed. The ceiling is made from wood boards. A covered breezeway x connects the kitchen structure to the main house. History: Three successive kitchens served the Fort Hill plantation. The earliest known kitchen was located inside Clergy Hall. The work space of the McElhenny era became an everyday dining room when the Calhouns lived in the house.

The Calhoun family constructed a detached kitchen building, which freed up the former food preparation area inside the dwelling and allowed the Calhouns to use the space in other ways. Outbuildings, such as the detached kitchen built during the Calhoun era, protected the house from fire as well as decreased the heat, smells, and noise generated by cooking. The Calhoun kitchen was dismantled by Clemson College around The kitchen, seen on the premises today, is a reconstruction of the Calhoun's detached kitchen building. Construction of the present kitchen began in under the guidance of David Watson, architect for the project. At the time, Watson was the Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds for the college.

Funding for the reconstruction effort was provided by the college and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Materials used in the kitchen project were taken from another site in close proximity. The fireplace and Dutch oven, for example, were removed from Altamont II, a Pinckney plantation near Pendleton. Tradition contends that slaves, who were skilled artisans (carpenters) working on the Calhoun property, made the comer cupboard. This object was taken from an overseer's dwelling on the Calhoun plantation grounds and installed in the reconstructed kitchen. The food preparation vessels, ironstone platters and bowls are original to Fort Hill. The third kitchen at Fort Hill was in the basement of the house.

It was used while Andrew Pickens Calhoun lived there; Calhoun occupied Fort Hill from to Later the Clemsons utilized ADDENDUM TO FORT IDLL, KITCHEN (McElhenny-Calhoun-Clemson House, Kitchen) BABS No. (page 3) the basement kitchen, installing a cast-iron stove and labor saving devices such as dumb waiters. Presently, this last kitchen space is a storage facility.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS SC,39-CLEM,1B-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Materials used in the preparation of this report include artifacts discovered near the kitchen site, such as an ironstone plate, historic photographs, and oral history accounts. One chronicle, for example, was provided by Jane Prince, who was the Clemsons' housekeeper. Also enlightening was a description of the Fort Hill complex written by Patrick Calhoun.