South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Vance-Maxwell House, Greenwood County (158 E. Cambridge St., Greenwood)
S1081772400701 S1081772400702 S1081772400703 S1081772400704
Facade Right Oblique Rear Elevation Interior

(Maxwell-Nicholson House) The Vance-Maxwell House was built around 1850 for Allen Vance. The one-and-one half story upcountry farmhouse was remodeled between 1898 and 1904 in the Second Empire fashion. The Vance-Maxwell House is historically significant for its association with Dr. John C. Maxwell, a locally prominent physician, military surgeon during the Civil War, politician, and philanthropist, who lived in the house from 1871 to 1898. In 1876 Dr. Maxwell was elected to the Senate of the State of South Carolina, in which he served for nine years. He also took an active role in the formation of Greenwood County in the 1890s, and chaired the committee that determined the site for the county courthouse and jail. In 1891 Dr. Maxwell and his wife helped establish the state Baptist orphanage in Greenwood named for the only child of the Maxwell’s to survive infancy. Since its founding, more than 6,000 children have been aided by the Connie Maxwell Orphanage. After the Maxwell’s died, their home reverted to the orphanage. In 1903 it was sold to George Pressly Neel, and insurance maps show that soon thereafter the home was remodeled. The Vance-Maxwell House is architecturally significant for its adaptation of Second Empire elements. During the remodeling, the house was enlarged, adding a full second story and a mansard roof to the original story-and-a-half central hall farmhouse. Listed in the National Register March 5, 1982.

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