Tillman Hall

Tillman Hall. . Part of the original campus, the building that was interchangeably called the Administration, Agricultural or Main Building in its early years is the University's most iconic structure, distinguished by its clock tower. It was completed in 1893, constructed by a predominately African-American convict labor crew using lumber from area trees and bricks that they made. An 1894 fire damaged much of the building, but it was soon rebuilt and reopened. Initially, the building housed offices of the president, commandant and treasurer, a library, the agriculture department and a chapel. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1990., When the agriculture department relocated to what is now Sikes Hall, students, faculty and staff dubbed this building “Old Main” , an unofficial nickname that remained in usage until 1946. In that year, the Board of Trustees renamed it after Benjamin R. Tillman, one of the original trustees included in Thomas Green Clemson's will and an influential legislator who served as governor of South Carolina and U.S. Senator. Tillman played an important role in Clemson's founding, but his racist views were considered extreme even in his time. The Board of Trustees disavowed those views in a 2015 resolution., Established , 1895, Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.