"The Hundreds"
This area was a hub of African-American life from the late-19th to mid-20th centuries. Anderson County Training School, built ca. 1922 as a Rosenwald school, closed in 1954 under the equalization program for black and white schools. It burned in the 1960s. The agricultural building is now a community center. The Faith Cabin Library, built ca. 1935 by a program to give black schools their own libraries, is one of only two such libraries still standing in S.C.
A frame store built nearby by Benjamin Horace Keese (1881-1975) and long known as the “Keese Barn” was a favorite gathering place for many years. Built ca. 1900 as a grocery store, it was later expanded and served as a cafe and antiques store/auction house. In 2003 Clemson University architecture students dismantled the Keese Barn and reused its historic materials to build the Memorial Block, to honor the store and its significance in Pendleton.
Where it stands. 305 West Queen St., Pendleton, Pendleton