Piedmont Research and Education Center

Two cemeteries are identified at the Piedmont Research and Education Center. One is the cemetery for enslaved people who worked at Andrew Pickens’ Hopewell Plantation. The other cemetery is the gravesite of four or more generations of the Simpson and Taliaferro families of the Mt. Jolly Plantation.

For more information on graves at the Piedmont Research and Education Center, contactDr. Matt Hersom by email at mhersom@clemson.edu, or call him at (864) 656-2530.

For inquiries about this gravesite location or any of the other statewide gravesite locations on Clemson University property, please email cugravesites@clemson.edu.

ACCESS

Clemson University understands and appreciates the sacred nature of the cemeteries located on its Research and Education Centers. However, in the interest of visitor and employee safety, we request that all visitors contact the respective historical society or REC directors in advance to make an appointment. We are happy to accommodate visits on weekdays during normal working hours. The Simpson and Hopewell gravesites are accessed by entering through Clemson animal research farm facilities, which are covered under Clemson’s biosecurity entry/visitation protocols. Visitors will be asked to follow appropriate biosecurity procedures for entry.

Estimated graves: 120+

Estimated age of graves: About 200 years (oldest) – 1918

Headstones: 3

Description: Site among mature hardwood timber was the African-American slave cemetery associated with Andrew Pickens' Hopewell Plantation. There are three headstones and most of the depressions are marked by field stones. Clearing was completed March 28, 2022. Aerial LiDAR was completed March 6, 2022.