McCelvey Center's History

For more than 150 years the McCelvey Center building has been home to a variety of educational institutions.   Originally, the site was the home of the Yorkville Female Academy, founded in 1852 by Bethel Presbytery.  Built to accommodate 300 boarding students, the school was considered to be one of South Carolina’s leading schools for women.  Other than for a short time when the building was closed during the Civil War, the building served as an educational facility until it closed in 1987.  

York School District One turned over ownership and operation of the building and one acre of land to McCelvey Center, Inc. in 1987 for use as a community and performing arts center.  In 2001, the York County Culture and Heritage Commission took over operation of the site plus the eleven and a half acres of land behind the facility.  

Today, the McCelvey Center is one of three institutions within the Culture & Heritage Museums (CHM), along with Historic Brattonsville and the Museum of York County.  The McCelvey Center offers a variety of performing arts programs.  The successful Arts-in-Education program provides a series of nine performances for public, private and home-schooled children.  The annual Showcase Series presents a diverse range of regional, national and international performers to the citizens of York County and surrounding areas.  The McCelvey Center is also the home of the Yorkville Players, The Yorkville Artist Guild, and Palmetto Pottery Center.

McCelvey Center also serves as the home of the Historical Center of York County, which functions as an archival repository that collects, preserves, interprets and maintains historically significant records relating to the history of the Carolina Piedmont.  Presently, most of the curatorial offices for the CHM are housed at McCelvey Center.  When all current CHM sites are renovated and the new Stans Museum of Life and the Environment is built, all curatorial offices will be located at McCelvey Center.

The McCelvey Center is located at 212 E. Jefferson Street in York. For visitor information, click here!

 

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