Class of '39 Caboose Timeline

646 freshmen of Class of ’39 enroll in Clemson College

293 members of Class of ’39 graduate

Horticulture Department, chaired by Tee Senn, establishes a 10 acre garden on present site of the Gardens on Perimeter Road

Garden enlarged to 27 acres to include research plots, special collections of flowers and other plants, and outdoor laboratory for classes in horticulture

Tee Senn, the radio "Plant Professor", introduces garden hortitherapy program onsite for the handicapped and disadvantaged

Clemson nationally recognized for its now 44‐acre Horticulture Gardens

Class of '39 adopts Horticulture Gardens as a special project to promote what Senn calls a future "Living Historical Gardens"

Senn's wife, Marguerite, asks Class of '39 member George Williams, a Southern Railway executive, to give the gardens "a little red caboose", a visible icon of American history, to make the gardens “a place that Clemson would be proud of,” and make it appeal even more to the public

• Senn and Horticulture Department expand their long tradition of sending boxes of peaches to department friends to include Williams and other Southern Railway executives for agreement to give Clemson the caboose
• Southern Railway gives caboose to Marguerite Senn and she gives it to Class of ’39 that agrees to place it in Horticulture Garden

Southern Railway caboose SOU‐X‐3164 arrives at Cherry's Crossing south of Clemson’s campus

Transporting the nearly 30‐ton caboose two miles to Horticulture Gardens is done in two stages: detached wheels and axles, and carriage; Moved on lowboy by huge tractor, bulldozer pushing from back

• Major remodeling of caboose's inside, much of it financed by Class of '39: Installation of restroom, air conditioner, new electrical wiring and lights, paneling, desks, and seats
• Saving of Clemson's historic Guardroom Bell from trash pile for display in Horticulture Gardens; bell had rung from 1893‐1955, during which Clemson was military school, for military formations and first class of day

Class of '39 reunion, dedication ceremony for the caboose and its christening by Marguerite Senn; class commits fully to help finance and assist further development of Horticulture Gardens

University consolidates Horticulture Gardens, Forestry Arboretum, and adjoining land into 250+ acre "Clemson University Botanical Garden"

University renames the gardens "South Carolina Botanical Garden"

Class of '39 establishes in SC Botanical Garden the "Clemson Heritage Gardens" that include several parts: "The Class of '39 Caboose Garden," "Cadet Life Garden," and "Founder's Garden"; honors major role in this and previous class work by members' Walter Cox and James Sweeny