An African American History Site
The Rock Hill Herald of March 19, 1941 reported – “Fire has completely destroyed the main building of the Harbison Agriculture and Mechanical Institute, a vocational high school for African Americans in Irmo. Dr. J.G. Porter is the Supt. The building was about thirty years old and the school moved from Abbeville to Irmo after the building in Abbeville burned.”
City Directories and History: President’s home at Harbison College. The President’s Home of Harbison College is located in a residential area on the outskirts of Abbeville, South Carolina. The house is significant to black history and to education for its association with Harbison College, an institution of higher education for black students, which was established by the Presbyterian Church in the United State of America. The two-story brick four-square house was built in 1906-07 to serve as the residence of the college president and is the only remaining building of the Abbeville campus of Harbison College. From its incorporation in 1901 until it moved from Abbeville in 1910, Harbison College was a co-educational institution offering a liberal arts education combined with religious, industrial, and agricultural training –one of the few such colleges for blacks in South Carolina. The President’s Home of Harbison College is situated on the crest of a ridge on a three-acre tract of land that was part of the original 65-acre Harbison College campus. A large front yard separates the house from South Carolina Highway 20. Several outbuildings, including a brick privy contemporary to the house, are located in the back yard. Listed in the National Register January 13, 1983. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
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