Left Oblique

Constructed ca. 1837, the Furman Institution Academic Building is a rectangular, two-story, hip roofed brick building with a one-story extension on the right elevation and a one-story addition on the left elevation. Flat brick arches surmount all bays except the second story central, arched, multi-paned window. The windows have granite lugsills. The building originally had a third floor which was reportedly removed after damage suffered in the earthquake of 1886. The building was used for classes and as a chapel. It serves as a visible reminder of the early history of Furman University and its brief establishment in Fairfield County. Furman Institution was established by the Baptist Denomination in South Carolina in 1827 in Edgefield, but was moved to the High Hills of the Santee (now Stateburg) in 1828 because of financial difficulties. When the school was threatened with financial collapse again in 1834, the Reverend Jonathan Davis, chairman of the board of trustees, urged the board to move the school to his native Fairfield County. It wasn’t until 1851 that South Carolina Baptists were able to raise the necessary funds for the removal of the school to Greenville. Listed in the National Register December 6, 1984. The Furman Institution Academic Building is no longer extant. Removed from the National Register December 8, 2005.

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