Football. Dabo Swinney. Tigers. Say the word “Clemson” to folks in the South, and these are the things that typically come to mind. What probably doesn’t come to mind? Cheese. That’s right, cheese. The truth is the university’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Science has been making blue cheese for years … and it’s delicious! I can personally vouch that it goes with just about everything — sprinkle the crumbles over a salad or steak, or throw it into a dip on game day. It is a part of Clemson University that not all who have visited the campus know about, which is amazing since the cheese just celebrated its 75th anniversary. The story behind it goes way back to the Piedmont area of South Carolina’s pioneer days — who knew?!
Way back in the mid-1800s, planners in the Piedmont area of South Carolina hoped for a railroad that would connect the Midwest with the bustling port of Charleston, South Carolina. They pushed for and got their railway tunnel request granted. Plans called for the new Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel to go through Stumphouse Mountain near Walhalla in Oconee County. Construction on the site began in 1852, but tensions between the North and the South over the years brought the work to a halt and caused the unfinished tunnel to be abandoned for many years. But the story didn’t end there.
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