University of South Carolina Horseshoe Gardens

Cultivating Scholarship, Fellowship and Reflection Amid Beauty

Sep 11, 2008

The bustling downtown research campus of the University of South Carolina - Columbia is an academic village in a garden. The Horseshoe Gardens have deep historical roots.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the four brick-walled city blocks of the Horseshoe contain ten 19th century buildings around an open promenade of brick footpaths and expansive green lawn under a hardwood canopy dominated by oaks.

Five gardens situated between and behind the buildings unify the design of the original campus founded in 1801. Although each garden has a unique profile, together they create an atmosphere for scholarship, fellowship, and reflection.

Memorial Rose Garden

The brick walls surrounding Lieber College (c. 1836) shelter roses from wind and traffic. The Columbia Garden Club funded the sunlit garden to honor deceased members. Pineapple sculptures welcome visitors to stroll or sit among serene surroundings.

President’s House Garden

The President’s House (c.1810) features a public shade garden in front and an enclosed garden in the rear. The front raised brick beds give each resident family the option of personalizing the seasonal plantings. The front garden gives a residential air to the elegant structure but also puts a privacy barrier between the floor-length front windows of living quarters and passersby on the brick walkway.

The rear garden, visible only through the gate, accommodates large parties under a canopy of ancient crepe myrtles. Flowerbeds within the garden allow resident families to use them as cutting or vegetable gardens.

East of Rutledge College (c. 1805) is a diminutive pentagon-shaped garden with a ceiling of live oak and dogwoods. Five benches tucked in boxwood encircle a sundial. Omicron Delta Kappa and faculty member Dr. Patricia DeCoursey contributed funds for the garden.

The gardens on either side of McCutcheon House (c.1813) are seen from the Horseshoe through a low wrought-iron fence. Twin sabal palmettos flank the Charleston style front staircase. Crepe myrtles, attractive year round, provide nearly four months of blossom before displaying colorful fall foliage and sinuous cinnamon bark in winter.Understory shrubs furnishing color and textural interest include nandina, cleyera, camellia, acuba, loropetalum, loquat, and fatsia.

The east side garden has an alfresco café as part of the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management housed at McCutcheon.

The South Caroliniana Library (c.1840) is the oldest free-standing college library in the nation. The Caroliniana Garden behind the library is the largest garden on the Horseshoe making it popular for large receptions. A three-dish fountain dedicated to “the Caroliniana Patriots who fought in the American Revolution” continuously drips water into a pond. Foundation flora include southern garden stalwarts: magnolias, camellias, sasanquas, azaleas, nandinas and hollies.

Raised brick beds display contemporary cultivars of cleome, coneflower, coreopsis, lantana, and salvia.

Step into the past while delighting in the present at the University of South Carolina Horseshoe Gardens. A free guide to the historic horseshoe buildings and gardens is available at the USC Visitor’s Center in McKissick Museum.

The copyright of the article University of South Carolina Horseshoe Gardens in Public Gardens is owned by Arlene Marturano. Permission to republish University of South Carolina Horseshoe Gardens in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.