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"R" is for Rock Hill

South Carolina from A to Z logo

  "R" is for Rock Hill [York County; population 41,643*]. Rock Hill began in 1852 as a depot and watering station on the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad. The name came from a notation on a construction supervisor’s map marking a spot where the road encountered a small flinty knoll. In the years after the Civil War, Rock Hill developed into a major cotton market and by the 1880s into a major textile center. In 1915, it adopted the city-manager form of government. In the early 20th century it began a century-long effort of economic and industrialization. Rock Hill’s remarkable success in attracting foreign investment and promoting economic growth prompted former Governor Carroll Campbell to declare that "Every city in the state should look to Rock Hill to see the formula for success in action."

*The population has changed since this was recorded several years back. It is now 70, 251.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.