Few spaces are more synonymous with USC Union than our historic Main Building. Built in 1909 as “Union High School” and located at the corner of East Main and North Church Streets in Union, SC, this building is significant both for its association with twentieth-century education in Union and as an intact example of the common use of the Classical Revival style in public schools.
This semester, the Main Building will reopen with a new look! The interior has been completely redone, complete with HVAC, carpet, lighting, paint, and a new fire alarm system.
Spaces for students and faculty have also been improved. A new space on the bottom floor will be dedicated to the Student Academic Success Center, with a room for private tutoring. The former Success Center will become a meeting space for SGA. There will also be new faculty offices and a larger dry lab for science courses.
“After a year and a half of discovery, we will soon have a fully updated Main Building,” said Keith Ballington, USC Union Director of Operations. “I am most excited to see the Success Center get their own dedicated space.”
The renovation process has uncovered some amazing features from the past. When pulling back the carpet on the stairs, construction crews found original hardwood floors that will now be re-stained and featured in the building.
Notable architectural features of the Main Building include the brick parapet; central projecting bay and large pedimented portico supported by composite columns; double-door entrance with sidelights and semi-circular fanlight; semi-circular brick arch with voussoirs; wide frieze with dentils and modillions; and panel inscribed “1909”.
This building was first opened as the first secondary school in Union County and was established in 1909 to provide education past the primary level offered at the Central Graded School. The high school was composed of the eighth through the eleventh grades after 1914. By 1925 the number of students had increased to the extent that a move was necessary.
The trustees of the Union County School District decided to house the high school students in the Main Street Grammar School at 503 East Main Street, built in 1922, and to move grammar school students to this building. In 1927, the move was completed, and this building became known as Main Street Grammar School, while the former grammar school became known as Union High School. This building served as the grammar school as late as 1948; it was subsequently closed, left vacant, and abandoned.
In 1965 when the University of South Carolina Union was established, USC Union acquired the vacant building and rehabilitated it to serve as its main building. All of its historical architectural features were preserved during the rehabilitation construction. When USC Union started, this building, known as Main Building, was the first and only building on the USC campus with an enrollment of 51 full time students. By 1970, enrollment had jumped to 220.
“The Main Building at USC Union constituted the entirety of the campus upon its founding 60 years ago in 1965, so it was very much due for the substantial renovations that it has been undergoing this year, which were made possible thanks to critical capital project funding from the state of South Carolina,” said Dr. Randy Lowell, Campus Dean. “Not only is the Main Building the oldest campus building, but it is also very much at the heart of campus, housing many classrooms, offices, the Auditorium, the Academic Success Center, and Academic Affairs. The renovations to the building feature updates and reconfiguring of these spaces and of the building’s infrastructure that will ensure continued success of our students, while also honoring the building’s historic character that stretches back even prior to the establishment of USC Union. We look forward to the completion of this work later this Fall, and to many more years of the Main Building’s significant role in the education of our students and positive impact on this community.”
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