Maj. John Hammond Fordham House
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Maj. John Hammond Fordham House | |
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| Location | 415 Boulevard St., Orangeburg, South Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 33°29′58″N 80°51′20″W / 33.49944°N 80.85556°W |
| Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
| Built | 1903 |
| Architect | William W. Cooke |
| Architectural style | Palladian |
| MPS | Orangeburg MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 85002341[1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 20, 1985 |
The Maj. John Hammond Fordham House is a historic home located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It was built in 1903, and is a 1½-story, Victorian frame cottage. It was the home of Maj. John Hammond Fordham, a prominent African-American citizen of Orangeburg.[2][3]
Major Fordham was the maternal great-grandfather of Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Eugene Robinson who was born and raised in the Orangeburg house, which he and his younger sister, Ellen, still own.[4]
Maj. Fordham was the son of Henry Fordham, a former slave who was able to buy his own freedom in 1850. Maj. Fordham was educated at Avery Normal Institute and became a lawyer active in the Republican Party, once serving as a county coroner. He and his wife, Louisa, had at least three children: a son, Marion — a pharmacist and WWI veteran — and daughters Flora Ella and Sadie Fordham Smith.[5]
The Fordham House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1]
