Lamar’s
Lamar’s was an iconic Clemson nightspot of the 1970s–80s, located on the Highway 123 bypass (now Tiger Boulevard) across from the train stationclemsonwiki.com. A circular, barn-like bar often nicknamed “The Round Table” by locals, Lamar’s offered a rustic dance-club atmosphere complete with a disco floor and live music. In fact, many recall that on weekends Lamar’s hosted popular regional bands (like Charlotte’s Sugar Creek) and kept a lively crowd of dancers. It was one of the few bars in town with a liquor license in that era, catering to a slightly “classier” crowd of older students and locals as well as undergradsarchive.org. By the late 1970s, Lamar’s had as devoted a following as any bar in Clemson – rivaling even larger clubs like The Corporation in popularityopen.clemson.edu. Longtime professor Joe Calhoun liked to quip about Lamar’s in class, and even Hollywood actress Susan Clark (in town filming The Midnight Man in 1973) became a regular patroncometoverhollywood.com. Lamar’s eventually closed by the late ’80s; the building later housed Coach Ibrahim’s Sports Shop (and today is part of Clemson’s athletic offices)cometoverhollywood.com. But for a generation of Tigers, the memories of twirling under Lamar’s flashing lights and meeting friends “at the Round Table” still endure.
