UNITY ACADEMY IN HICKORY GROVES, SC: The site of this academy is near the present day Unity Baptist Church located three fourths of a mile from the town of Hickory Grove on River Road. In 1823, Reverend Aaron Williams established the academy, the first school of its kind in what would later be the town of Hickory Grove. Williams conducted this school on a grade and high school level, teaching Mathematics, Grammar, Geography, Languages and Sciences. Its earliest board of trustees consisted of Rev. Cyrus Johnston, Rev. Hugh Quinn, A. Thompson, Esq., Benjamin Morgan, John S. Moore and David Byers. By 1870, the academy was incorporated into the public school system, more particularly, the Broad River School District. The teacher for the school term of 31 March 1870 to 3 June 1870 was Mary E. Nickles. At the time, the building was listed as “not very good,” and was located near the present site of Unity Baptist Church. In 2000, the Broad River Basin Historical Society erected a marker near the site in honor of W. B. Wilkerson Jr., (1920-2000) one of its charter members.
Images courtesy of AFLLC – 2017
UNITY BAPTIST CHURCH: Tradition has it that a log meeting house was constructed to serve as a preaching point for various denominations; hence, the name, Unity. Early minutes of the York Baptist Association gives the date of organization in 1883 while other say 1838 and 1839. Behind the church is Unity Spring which served as a water supply for both the academy and church. When the Baptist church was organized a baptismal pool was made next to the spring by digging out a hole and lining it with boards. 
UNITY SPRINGS: Located on Unity Branch behind Unity Baptist Church, this spring probably supplied water for the Unity Academy that gave the spring and branch its name. When the Baptist church was organized a pool was dug out and its wall boarded up to create a baptismal pool.
UNITY METHODIST CHURCH: The African-American church, located on Highway 97, one and one-half mile south of the intersection of 97 and 322, has a history that begins sometime in the 1880’s. In the spring of 1932 the church was destroyed by an arson late one Sunday afternoon. John Roseborough, a well-to-do black farmer held a mortgage on the building for $1,900. The Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of York carried the policy and conducted an extensive investigation to find the arsonist, offering $100 reward; however, no one was arrested. The church was rebuilt but became defunct some time later. The church collapsed into ruins about 1980. When Highway 97 was widened, several graves were relocated.
ROSTER OF THE MALE FORT MILL ACADEMY, 1879-1880 Transcribed by Cheryl E. Hill (The Fort Mill Academy, built around 1875, was one of the few “prep” schools in this region, offering a curriculum designed to prepare students for college. The following is an excerpt from the 1880 Circular of the Fort Mill Academy, pages 3-6, located in the archives of the York County Public Library, Rock Hill, SC. The document was donated to the library by Mr. W. B. Ardrey, Sr., of Fort Mill.) ROLL OF STUDENTS FOR 1879-80 MALES W. B. Ardrey Fort Mill, A. B. Bailes Springs Station, Ralph Belk Union County, N. C., Robert G. Belk Waxhaws ,T.B. Belk Fort Mill, R.G. Brandt Chester, C.S. Bratton Guthriesville, William Choat Randallsburg, N.C., E. W. Cooper Sumter, J. W. Corbett Gastonia, N. C., Robert W. Crawford Chester County, C.P. Culp Fort Mill, David Culp Fort Mill, W. J. Cureton Waxhaws, G. W. C. Dick Sumter, W. E. Dick Sumter, S. F. Donaldson Georgetown, Patrick Dooley Fort Mill, James Drakeford Fort Mill, J. S. Drakeford Fort Mill, C. L. Dunlap Cedar Shoals, Thomas Flowers Fort Mill, Sadler Gillespie Columbia, W. C. Heath Lancaster, Charlton Hughes Rock Hill, Mclver Hughes Rock Hill, Norton Hotchkiss Fort Mill, William V. Jennings Sumter, William H. Jones, T. B. Kell, Barnett Kimbrall, Robert Leonard, W. D. Love, Jr., Allie Mack Edward, Mack Lee McAfee, J. G. McCutchen, J. S. Moore, Boyden Nims, Fred Nims, Claude Permenter, William Porter, Lester Powell, T. B. Powell, Walter Huff, Joseph H. Saye, C. W. Smith, Rufus Stewart, Samuel Thomasson, William Thomasson, J. B. Walpole, E. O. Watson, Hugh White, Austin Wilkinson, J. R. Wilson, Alonzo Withers, A. Ivy Withers, Julian Withers, W. J. Witherspoon, Robert Youngblood, and Samuel Youngblood.
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Aug. 12, 1886 – “Mr. T. Banks Belk of Fort Mill and Mr. F.J. Heath of Charlotte will open a store in Fort Mill this coming September.”
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