For the first four years of its existence, South Carolina College was completely contained in one building: Rutledge College. The central portion housed classrooms, laboratories, a library and the chapel while wings on either side provided faculty and student housing. The building, located east of Sumter Street on what was then a large wooded site, was designed to house about 50 students. Fire destroyed much of Rutledge in 1855, but it was quickly rebuilt. Following the Civil War and subsequent burning of Columbia, the federal commander of the Columbia district used the east wing of Rutledge as quarters. The Columbia post office and the office of the state treasurer were housed in the west wing, and the House of Representatives met in the chapel. Originally called South Building and later Old South Building, Rutledge is named in honor of John Rutledge, an 18th-century S.C. statesman and an early advocate of higher education, and his brother Edward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Rutledge Residence Hall »
Building Abbreviation: RUTLDG