151 Fox Street
City Directories and History: The Fox House was built for and housed the newly founded Southern Lutheran Seminary, the second oldest organized Lutheran theological school in the United States. The Lutheran Seminary started in 1830 when five young men journeyed to the home of Colonel John Eigleberger near Pomaria for instruction in theology from the Rev. John G. Schwartz. This being unsatisfactory to the Synod, a search was begun for a new site. This house was erected as a faculty dormitory with some classroom space. In 1855 the seminary was moved to Newberry. In 1858, the house, which originally cost some $5,287. to construct, was purchased by John Fox of Lexington, county sheriff, clerk of court, and state senator. The Fox House is a two-story frame building with an 11-foot porch across the front façade. Two dependencies, a kitchen and a housekeepers quarters, are attached to the rear by open breezeways. Three doors open on to the front porch and one to each breezeway. The house has two chimneys, each with four fireplaces. Seven of the eight mantels are original. Each of the two dependencies has its own end chimney. All doors and windows are original. The windows are six-over-nine throughout. Listed in the National Register July 1, 1970. (Courtesy of South Carolina Department of Archives and History)
The Fox House, owned by the Lexington County Museum Commission, takes its name from John Fox of Lexington — county sheriff, clerk of court, state senator — who purchased the house in 1858. Its historic value lies in the fact that it was built for and housed, from the early 1830s to 1855, the newly founded Southern Lutheran Seminary, second oldest organized Lutheran theological school in the United States. The two-story white clapboard house is significant as a farm home of early 19th-century central South Carolina, and is particularly representative of the early German/Swiss settlers of the Lexington area. Also important because of its association with the early history of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina — a dominant force in the history of Lexington County — is the William Berly House, another property in the Fox House Museum Complex. Located upon part of the 102 acres purchased in 1833 by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina and Adjacent States for the establishment of a seminary and classical academy, the house was later used as a residence by the Rev. William Berly, a leading religious and educational figure in area Lutheranism in the mid-19th century. Completing the Lexington Museum Complex is a third National Register property, the Hazelius House, occupied from 1834 until 1853 by Ernest L. Hazelius, a clergyman of the Luthern Church, academician, philosopher, author, and educator.
(Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)
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