Clemson University was founded in 1889 as the Clemson Agricultural College of S.C., with origins in the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 creating public land-grant colleges. It was established by a bequest from Thomas Green Clemson, a noted scientist, agriculturist, and son-in-law of John C. Calhoun, whose plantation at Fort Hill formed the core of the new college campus. Intended to be "a high seminary of learning" to advance scientific agriculture and the mechanical arts, it opened in 1893 as a military school and was sometimes improperly known as Clemson A&M College. It became a civilian co-educational institution in 1955 and became Clemson University in 1964, reflecting its modern and expanded mission.
