“F” is for Furman University. In 1825, the South Carolina Baptist Convention elected a board to organize an institution to train young men for the ministry. The school opened in Edgefield in 1827 and was named in honor of Richard Furman. After several decades of difficulty and relocations, Furman moved to Greenville in 1850. The institution had a college preparatory department, a collegiate department, and a theological department. The theological department separated in 1859 and became Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the preparatory department was discontinued in 1916. In 1950, Furman’s trustees purchased 900 acres for a new campus, six miles north of Greenville. The new campus opened in 1958 and the move from downtown was completed in 1961. In 1990, the trustees of Furman University voted to sever all ties with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, a decision the Convention recognized in 1992.
