Lutheran Classical and Theologicial Seminary

Front inscription

The Lutheran Classical and Theological Seminary was located here from 1834 to 1855. The Synod of S.C. established a new seminary in 1831 in an effort to promote the education of Lutheran ministers in the Southeast. It opened in Pomaria, Newberry County, but plans were soon made to move to this site, then 1/2 mi. from the town of Lexington Court House.

Reverse inscription

The seminary opened here in 1834, with Dr. Ernest L. Hazelius (1777-1853), a native of Prussia who had come to America in 1800, as headmaster until 1851. The seminary, headmaster’s house (1833), and academic building (1838) are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The seminary moved to Newberry in 1855 and became Newberry College in 1856.