This Building Has History ™
Name: McCosh House
Architect: Unknown
Builder: A.D. Holler (Attributed)
Constructed: 1872
This building is significant as a representative of architecture during the early period of Rock Hill’s development, and is the oldest house still existing from the post-Civil War period of growth. The home was originally built for Captain Reid H. McCosh, a Civil War veteran and merchant who came to Rock Hill to take advantage of the growing commerce of the railway center. He and his wife, Jane, purchased the property on Black Street in 1871, and completed the building in 1872.
The McCosh family became well known in the community. Capt. McCosh would become President of the Hook and Ladder Company, a firefighting group, and also Vice-President of a rifle club. Mrs. McCosh was a lifelong Baptist, and at times the only Baptist in Rock Hill. Through her efforts, Baptist preachers were invited to give sermons in Rock Hill, and the First Baptist Church was organized in 1878. Their son, Edgar, was the first person to be buried in Rock Hill’s new cemetery, Laurelwood. Capt. McCosh died in 1880, described as, “one of the most useful and prominent citizens” of Rock Hill. After his death, Mrs. McCosh moved to Chester.
Following the McCosh family’s departure, several other prominent Rock Hill families occupied the house. It was the first marital home of John G. Anderson and his wife, between 1884 and 1885. During this time, Anderson operated a machinery business which would later become the Rock Hill Buggy Company and Anderson Motor Company, which gained national recognition.
J.C. Rhea purchased the house in 1885, and the Rhea family still owns it to this day. After being condemned as inhabitable in 1972, local attorneys Sam Mendenhall and Robert McFadden leased the building and renovated it as a law office. It served as an attorney’s office until 2012.
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Roots and Recall LLC, The City of Rock Hill, The York County Arts Council, & The S.C. Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and by a generous award from the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of The Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
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