419 East Main Street – O’Neal Home

R&R HISTORY LINK: Citizens Bank Building

In his teens his first business venture was an interest in a retail grocery business with his brother-in-law, the late B. N. Craig, at a salary of $8.00 per month.

City Directories and History: 1908 – J.W. O’Neal, 1917 – J.W. O’Neal, 1922 – J.W. O’Neal, 1946 – John W. O’Neal, 1963 -Vacant, 1975 – Rossi Rooming House (Johnnie B. Craft)

The Herald reported on July 15, 1899 – “Construction of a residence for J.W. O’Neal on East Main Street for a cost of $3,000.”

“Opposite the Milling house was the John W. O’Neal house. Mrs. O’Neal was born Helen Ruff. And it was her parents who lived next door to the east, on the corner of Main and Spruce streets. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Fletcher Ruff built their house about 1893. It featured unusually large rooms. The dining room was thirty or more feet in length. The Ruffs had a big family. Mrs. Ruff was’ a native of Fairfield County, S.C. Her maiden name was Margaret Elliott.”  [Robbins – White History Tour]

Stock certificate in the O’Neal and Johnston Company of Rock Hill, S.C.

The O’Neal home was designed by Architect, Hugh Edward White (1869 – 1939), born in Fort Mill, S.C. he attended Fort Mill Academy and started his practice in about 1894. Remained in Rock Hill until about 1903 and later returned to work. In the 1890’s he worked in an architectural firm in Atlanta. Between 1903-1918 he was a field supervisor of the Supt. Architect Dept. of the Treasury. For about three years 1918-21, he was employed with Charles Coker Wilson in Columbia or Gastonia, N.C.

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R&R HISTORY LINK: The O’Neals on Hampton Street

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