Edgar’s
On campus itself, the go-to gathering place was Edgar’s, the student pub located in the basement of the Edgar A. Brown University Union. Opened in 1976 when the Union building debuted, Edgar’s was a combination bowling alley, pool hall, and beer lounge all in oneclemsonwiki.com. For students who couldn’t yet (or didn’t want to) venture downtown, Edgar’s was a convenient social hub. They had free popcorn, cheap pitchers, and even hosted events like air-guitar contests. One alum remembers Edgar’s being packed in winter 1982 when the bar aired a replay of Clemson’s Orange Bowl victory – the place filled up with students (and even Clemson football players) reliving the championship on the big screentigernet.com. Edgar’s regularly put on things like trivia and karaoke nights, making it a beloved spot for weeknight entertainment. Its identity as an on-campus “safe” bar (supervised and relatively tame) made it unique – Clemson’s own college pub. By the late 1990s, however, tastes changed and the Union was aging. Edgar’s Pub eventually closed (its space famously became the first Starbucks on campus)news.clemson.edu. When the Union and Johnstone Hall were demolished in 2017, archivists even saved the old Edgar’s sign for posteritynews.clemson.edu. To Clemson alumni, Edgar’s is remembered as a cherished slice of campus life – a place where you could bowl a few frames, shoot pool, and grab a beer without ever leaving the shadow of the stadiumtigernet.comnews.clemson.edu. They served draft beer in paper waxed cups call Tall Fred’s and Big Ed’s. They would dissolve on the dance flour.
