The second oldest building on the campus, DeSaussure College, originally designed as the mirror image of its predecessor, Rutledge, is just as replete with historic interest.

DeSaussure (first called North Building and later Old North Building) was originally designed for dormitory facilities in its east and west wings and academic facilities in its center portion.

In 1811 a severe earthquake damaged several of the buildings on the campus, and North Building was particularly hardhit, with the result that it had to be reinforced with iron rods. (Still later, in 1851, the west wing was destroyed by fire and rebuilt.). In 1814 a mob of disguised students burned a professor in effigy, broke open the doors of DeSaussure, stole the college bell and destroyed it, and attacked the home of another professor. The militia finally was called to quell the riot.

During the Civil War, DeSaussure College was part of the general hospital that existed at the College from 1862 to 1865. After the war, a portion of the building was used as a federal military prison and the wings were occupied by refugees. In October 1867, the newly reorganized University of South Carolina began a short-lived medical school as part of its curriculum. DeSaussure was chosen as its site. It was also the home of a normal school, a two-year program for training secondary teachers.

In 1918 women students were allowed to live on campus for the first time, the war having diminished male enrollment. DeSaussure was chosen as their dormitory.

Henry William DeSaussure (1763-1839), born in Pocotaligo, was a lawyer, director of the U.S. Mint, and chancellor of South Carolina. After serving in the Revolutionary War, he was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1785. For 18 years he was a member of the lower house of the General Assembly and in that capacity took an active part in the establishment of South Carolina College.

DeSaussure was appointed director of the U.S. Mint in 1795, a role in which his competent leadership brought about the first coinage of gold. In 1808 he was elected to the chancery bench, a position he held for 29 years and which was his principal public service. He was acclaimed for his decrees and the compiling and publishing of four volumes of Chancery Reports covering the years from the Revolution to 1817.

Maxcy was part of an extensive building program on campus launched in the late 1930s as part of the New Deal. Originally planned as a student union building, Maxcy College and new wings at Thornwell College were erected at a cost of $225,000, a portion of which was paid for by the Public Works Administration. For some years the building housed administrative offices.

The building was named for The Reverend Jonathan Maxcy (1768-1820), first president of South Carolina College.

This was the second faculty residence built on the South Carolina College campus. After a number of other professors had occupied the home, Maximilian LaBorde, chairman of the faculty of South Carolina College, 1861-1865, lived here from 1842 to 1873. A small out-building was erected on the premises especially for Professor LaBorde, who found the size of the residence "uncomfortable" for his family of 10 children.

Professor George McCutchen moved there in 1915, and Professor Harry Davis took up residence there about 1920. These faculty members lived there until World War II, after which the University stopped providing housing for any faculty except the president. In 1945 the registrar's office moved into the building, which was later used for academic purposes.

During the Horseshoe renovation in the l970s, McCutchen House was refurbished extensively. At this time evidence of slave quarters was found, along with a University deed dated 1813, for a slave named Jack. Two cannon balls from the Civil War were found on the grounds.

The early interior architecture of McCutchen was described as "showing the taste of the times" and as a "simplified version of the sophisticated Charleston architecture." In the restoration process, whatever original window glass that remained was used where possible. This glass was made by a sandcast method which did not produce the clearness and perfection of glass made by today's methods. McCutchen House retains its original frame of hand-hewn timbers with walls plastered on wooden lathe.

Today McCutchen serves as a faculty house and as such is the central meeting place, both formal and informal, for faculty and top administrative staff. In it are the office of the secretary of the Faculty Senate and committee meeting rooms for the majority of faculty committees and Faculty Senate committees.

In 1973 the Board of Trustees named the University's administration building in honor of long-time trustee Rutledge L. Osborne (1895-1984, Class of 1916) of Orangeburg. The building was the first structure built on campus specifically to house administrative offices.

Osborne served as chairman of the board longer than any individual in Carolina's history, from 1952 until 1970 when he did not seek re-election. He was a member of the board from 1947 until he resigned at the age of 80 in 1975. During that time he worked with the administrations of five University presidents. Osborne was designated chairman emeritus in 1976.

In 1974, the USC Alumni Association honored Osborne with the group's Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Carolina Association of Lettermen named him to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973.

In 1918 Osborne was elected comptroller general of South Carolina at the age of 23, the youngest constitutional officer ever elected to office in this state. He served on the staffs of four governors, was on the S.C. Tax Board of Review, and was a member and chairman of the S.C. Highway Commission.

Petigru College was completed in 1950 and originally housed the law school. It was the first building since Sloan College (1927) to be financed entirely by state funds.

The building's namesake, James Petigru (1789-1863, Class of 1809), was a noted South Carolina attorney, state attorney general, and U.S. district attorney.