York County lies within the Olde English region of South Carolina. The county and its seat are named in honor of York County, Pennsylvania.
Catawba Indians initially inhabited the region before they ceded control of the area to the United States via treaty in 1763. After this treaty was signed, a great number of Scotch-Irish from both Pennsylvania and the South Carolina Lowcountry began to settle the area.
The county was founded in 1785 within the Camden District. It later belonged to the Pinckney District before becoming its own district. During the Revolutionary War, the battles of Williamson’s Plantation and King’s Mountain took place here.
Initially, the economy relied on small cotton farms. However, over time the economy transitioned from cotton farming to cotton processing and became dependent on the textile industry.
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Settled in the mid-18 th century by the Bratton family—Scots-Irish Presbyterians, originally of Scottish ancestry, who had moved to northern Ireland in the 17 th century, and came to North America in...
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A novelist, illustrator and publisher, Jonathan Miller grew up in Clover and graduated from Clover High School before making his home in Charleston, where he attended college. Mr. Miller is the author...
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This program features Dori Sanders. A native of Gilbert, S.C., a tiny community in York County, her family operates one of the oldest African American farms in the region. Her father, a former...
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The McConnell Log Cabin was moved here in 1983 from its original site on the McConnell Plantation three miles west of Brattonsville. It is typical of a later Scots-Irish dwelling that would have been...
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The broad axe is believed to be of Viking origin dating to early Scandinavia. It was used as both a weapon and a tool. It is likely that Scots-Irish would have been familiar with its use before coming...
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The first Scots-Irish settlers had to be self-sufficient because they were often isolated from other people by distances of miles. Food had to be acquired through gardening, herding and hunting. Cloth...
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This detail of the logs in the McConnell Log Cabin depict how the logs were more carefully hewn and prepared as compared to the rough timbers used to construct the Backwoods Cabin. By this time the...
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The Backwoods Cabin is typical of the type of structure the Scots-Irish settler would have built upon first arriving in the area. Constructed of readily available natural materials, the cabin was...
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Friendship Junior College was founded in 1891 under the name Friendship Institute. The first class, with an enrollment of eleven pupils, was held October 11, 1891. Rev. Mansel P. Hall was the teacher...
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This school, founded in 1920, was the first public school for blacks in Rock Hill. Named for Emmett J. Scott (1873-1957), a prominent educator who was then secretary of Howard University, Emmett Scott...