Constructed around 1830, the Ernest L. Hazelius House is one of the oldest surviving residences in Lexington and an outstanding example of the modest yet well-crafted dwellings erected by the area’s early German-Swiss settlers. Originally built as a simple cottage by the Gross family before 1830, the house was acquired in 1834 by the Lutheran Theological Seminary, which had recently relocated to Lexington. The structure was enlarged to accommodate the residence of the seminary’s headmaster, the Reverend Dr. Ernest Lewis Hazelius (1777–1853), whose scholarship and leadership established the institution as one of the foremost centers of Lutheran education in the South. Today, the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as one of the centerpiece buildings of the Lexington County Museum.

The one-story frame dwelling is built of native heart pine and rests upon low brick piers beneath a gable roof with broad shed porches extending across the front and rear elevations. Its rectangular hall-and-parlor plan features four principal rooms across the front with four smaller chambers to the rear, a layout characteristic of early nineteenth-century vernacular architecture throughout the Carolina Piedmont. Although modest in appearance, the house incorporates restrained Greek Revival influences through its paneled mantels, simple square porch columns with understated capitals, symmetrical proportions, and finely crafted interior woodwork. Large windows, multiple exterior doors, and painted mantelpieces designed to resemble marble illustrate the practical craftsmanship and refined taste of the period. The residence remains one of the finest surviving examples of early domestic architecture in Lexington County.

Dr. Ernest L. Hazelius occupied the home from 1834 until his death in 1853 while serving as professor and headmaster of the Lutheran Seminary. A native of Silesian Prussia, Hazelius was an internationally respected theologian, philosopher, author, educator, and champion of public education whose influence extended throughout the American South. Under his leadership, the seminary flourished and became the predecessor of today’s Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. The house welcomed countless ministers, students, and distinguished visitors, making it one of the intellectual and religious centers of antebellum South Carolina.

The Hazelius House also occupies a unique place in American musical history. In 1889, while visiting the residence, evangelist Charles D. Tillman first wrote down the words and melody of the traditional spiritual “Give Me That Old Time Religion,” preserving one of the nation’s best-known gospel hymns after hearing it sung by African American worshippers in Lexington. During the Civil War, the house narrowly escaped destruction, and evidence of an attempted fire by Federal troops in 1865 could still be seen during later restoration efforts. Threatened by highway construction in the twentieth century, the house was relocated to the Lexington County Museum in 1974, where it has been carefully preserved and restored.

Today, the Ernest L. Hazelius House stands as one of Lexington’s most treasured historic landmarks. Through its remarkably preserved architecture, association with one of South Carolina’s most influential religious educators, and connection to both the Lutheran Seminary and the enduring gospel tradition, the house provides an exceptional window into the cultural, educational, and architectural heritage of early Lexington County.