
The Hutchison Home, demolished, in downtown Rock Hill, S.C. constructed by businessman-contractor; Mr. B.F. Rawlinson as a speculative sales project, ca. 1850

Colton’s 1854 Map of York County – Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History

Early 20th century postcard showing the McFadden Motor Co., as part of a promotional piece on Main Street. Courtesy of the AFLLC Collection – 2017 One of thousands of historic addresses – sites, in York County, to explore and enjoy on the pages of Roots and Recall!

Rock Hill architect and contractor, Julian Starr and his crew on the front of a project he recently completed in Union County, S.C.

Tom Mills as a young African American entrepreneur in Rock Hill, S.C.

Pictured are Ruth Holler – Kimbrell, M.E. Kimbrell and Nell Pickett. Courtesy of the Kimbrell Collection, 2015

Following the fall of the Confederate capital, Richmond, Va., President Jefferson Davis traveled south and spent one night at the home of John Springs and two days later passed the Russell house on his way to the Pinckneyville Ferry.
A shell of the once lovely home owned and cherished by both the community and the Rev. R.Y. Russell – 2013


A National Register district, image ca. 1979, showing North Congress Street. The Yorkville Enquirer contained an ad on May 10, 1893 for W.B. Moore and Co., offering coffins, caskets, and robes.

The Rock Hill Record reported on April 5, 1909 carried an article from the Yorkville Enquirer stating – “Ms. Rosa Lindsay will open a photography studio in Rock Hill. She will spend about half her time in Yorkville and half in Rock Hill. She has mastered ever detail of modern photography and has hundreds of pleased patrons in Yorkville and surrounding area.”

The White – Rainey home originally had a handsome picket fence and fine English boxwood lining the front entrance.

Rainey House ca. 1950 by Eliz. Reed – Evening Herald

Gothic Revival 1830 – 1860s style in America was advanced by architects Alexander Jackson Davis and especially Andrew Jackson Downing, authors of influential house plan books, Rural Residences (1837), Cottage Residences (1842), and The Architecture of Country Houses (1850). This style was promoted as an appropriate design for rural settings, with its complex and irregular shapes and forms fitting well into the natural landscape. Thus, the Gothic Revival style was often chosen for country homes and houses in rural or small town settings. Penn Arch. Guide Book – Website
The Chester and Lenoir Railroad line was an attempt by York and other regional towns to have regular railroad service. It allowed large quantities of agricultural products to be shipped from the western areas of N.C. into the S.C. Railroad system and find the way to S.C. factors in Charleston, S.C. Printed in the Yorkville Enquirer newspaper, Oct. 31, 1895.


Picking cotton fields by hand, throughout the South, was a common event in the fall, prior to ca. 1950s. Postcard view in Newberry Co., (it could easily have been photographed in York County as well), courtesy of the Davie Beard Collection – 2017

Picking cotton fields by hand, throughout the South, was a common event in the fall, prior to ca. 1950s. Postcard view in Newberry Co., (it could easily have been photographed in York County as well), courtesy of the Davie Beard Collection – 2017
The Crawford School was constructed just south of the Neely house on the opposite side of the road. Walker’s 1910 Postal Map
Crawford Center – Rosenwald African American School