A Pendleton organization is working to raise $1.5 million to remember a gathering place with a deep and meaningful history in the heart of one of the Upstate’s oldest towns.
The Pendleton Foundation for Black History & Culture intends to build a façade of the Old Keese Barn, a place also known as The Hundreds. Benjamin Horace Keese’s barn played a significant role in Pendleton’s history as the first public gathering place for the town’s African American population in the early and mid-1900s, according to a news release from the organization.
“Mr. Keese’s business played a major role in the growth of and sense of communion within Pendleton’s Black community,” Terence Hassan, chair of the Pendleton Foundation for Black History & Culture, said in the release. “The site is just a stone’s throw from Farmers Hall, yet no one can see it, and few know of its historic prominence. It is truly the invisible mecca of Pendleton’s history. That’s why it is so important for us to restore a structure on the Keese Barn site that will be a fitting tribute to Mr. Keese’s vision and legacy.”
Built between 1900-1910, the original Keese Barn building began as a general store in the heart of downtown Pendleton, about a half block off the town square. Keese had returned to his hometown after several years working in Philadelphia, and he brought cosmopolitan business ideas back with him, according to the release. He transformed the barn into a one-stop shop for Pendleton’s Black residents, adding a public restaurant, antique store, auction house, and even a residence onto the general store. The building eventually became known as “The Hundreds” after the scores of people who would socialize and eat together there. After Keese died in 1975, the structure fell into disrepair.
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In 2003, Clemson University architecture students dismantled the ruins and created a memorial on the site.
The Keese Barn Legacy Project seeks to restore the Keese Barn’s place in Pendleton’s history while simultaneously providing a new gathering place for the town’s residents. This project will see a façade built on the site, mirroring the front of the Keese Barn and containing concessions, storage and restrooms. The back of the façade provides a stage and gathering area for people to meet, spend time together, and enjoy public or private events.
MOA Architecture of Greenville designed the façade.
Just as the original Keese Barn was a place for fellowship and friendship, the new façade is intended to provide all Pendleton’s residents with a home for gathering, community and growth, the release stated.
Donations to the cause can be made by contacting Hassan at [email protected], PFBHC vice chair Deveraux Williams at [email protected], or through the organization’s website.
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