History of Fertilizer

Fertilizer was applied to fields to improve yield. The first phosphate mined in the US was in Charleston, SC in the late 1800s. Acidic soils in SC became a serious problem for crop production as well. Fertilizer and lime were needed to improve crop yield. A tax on fertilizer was instituted.

Phosphates in South Carolina, 1870-1890; digital.library.sc.edu

• In 1879, the SC Fertilizer Tax was established at $0.25 per ton.
• In 1890, agricultural chemical testing was initiated in South Carolina at Clemson Agricultural College through the fertilizer inspection and analysis program and funded by the Fertilizer Tax.
• The responsibilities of fertilizer inspection and analysis in the state were given to Clemson College because the state's new analytical chemistry laboratory was being built there (current-day Hardin Hall), and initially fertilizer analysis was a function of that department.

Chemistry Laboratory

Revenue received from the Fertilizer Tax funded construction of the majority of Clemson’s campus classroom and housing facilities from its founding until 1937. Existing campus buildings built in whole or in part with the Fertilizer Tax are the following:

• 1889, Trustee House
• 1890, Chemistry Building (Hardin) and Fertilizer Lab (now gone)
• 1893, Kinard Hall Annex
• 1894, Old Main (Tillman) Rebuilt
• 1898, Textile Hall (Godfrey)
• 1904, Agricultural Hall (Sikes)
• 1914, Holzendorff YMCA
• 1924, Engineering Hall (Freeman)
• 1937, Long Hall
• Many others built in the early 1900s have been razed and replaced.
  
  

Textile Building, Fertilizer Building and Chemical Lab