Hanover House may be over 300 years old, but this year it is celebrating its 30th anniversary of being located in the South Carolina Botanical Garden on the campus of Clemson University.
Thanks to a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Department of Historic Properties is hosting a series of speakers and hands-on, family-friendly activities for all ages to celebrate the anniversary throughout the month of October.
Saturday, October 4, 11 a.m.-12 p.m., Hayden Conference Center (located in the S.C. Botanical Garden) — “A History of Hanover: A Facilitated Discussion” with Rick Owens, historic preservation officer, and Holly Corbett, historic site guide.
12-4 p.m., Hanover House — “Can You Build It?” When Hanover House was moved, it was taken apart, pieces were labelled, and the house was put back together again at its new location. Participants will have the opportunity to replicate Hanover’s history by making a brick of their own, as well as rebuild a house and create their own designs.
Saturday, October 11, 11 a.m.-12 p.m., Hayden Conference Center — “South Carolina’s Forgotten Landscape: A Cultural History of Old St. John’s Berkeley” with Richard Porcher, a scholar, educator and conservationist who is an expert in South Carolina botanical and cultural history.
12-4 p.m., Hanover House — “Piece By Piece,” a quilting activity for all ages. Participants will put together quilt design puzzles, color their own quilt squares and draw their own original designs.
Thursday, October 16, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (Patrick Square, Clemson) — “Foodways: Rice Cultivation and the Dutch Fork Pumpkin” with David Shields, food historian best known for his work to save and revive historic crops in the South, such as Carolina Gold Rice and the Bradford Watermelon.
Sunday, October 19, 2-4 p.m., Hanover House — “Rice – Plant, Pick and Process,” a hands-on activity for all ages. Participants will explore how rice is grown, using beads to create a bracelet showing the steps of the plant’s life cycle. They will learn weaving techniques similar to those used by enslaved field workers to make baskets to harvest and transport rice and learn how to separate rice hulls from kernels using a mortar and pestle.
Saturday, October 25, 11 a.m.-12 p.m., Hayden Conference Center — “Celebration of Preservation: Black Heritage Trail, Preservation South, and Clemson Historic Preservation in Charleston”
12-4 p.m., Hanover House — “Preserve and Protect” activities for all ages to learn how to save pieces of history for the future. Participants will adorn their own mini house with features that they feel are important to preserve and add a note about what they want to protect for future generations.
Hanover House was built in 1716 for French Huguenot Paul de St. Julien in Berkeley County, South Carolina. It is one of the oldest examples of an early French Huguenot colonial house still standing in the country. In the 1940s when the Cooper River was dammed to create Lake Moultrie, the house was dismantled and moved to the campus of Clemson University to save it. In 1994, it was moved to its current location in the South Carolina Botanical Garden where it was opened to the public as a museum. Hanover House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hanover House is open Monday to Saturday (except for home football game days) from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
