The Carolina Foothills:: A Brief History

"The land was ours before we were the land's." -- The Gift Outright, by Robert Frost

The varied landmarks and sweeping rural and mountain vistas of this region— affectionately known as "The Carolina Foothills" by all who call it home — bear silent witness to the struggles, accomplishments and aspirations of all who have come to this land and made it their own. In a landscape still largely unspoiled by modern day intrusions, echoes of the past can be heard more clearly than in other, more intensely developed locales.

The first known settlers in the region were the Cherokee; evidence of their handicraft can still be found in the North Pacolet River valley, where newly cultivated earth still yields up arrowheads and other artifacts. European settlers — primarily English and Scots Irish — began arriving here in the 1750s. The Block House, a trading outpost and defensive structure erected at the junction of present day Polk [NCj, Spartanburg[SC] and Greenville [SC] Counties, was built as the French and Indian War drew to a close. Listed on the National Register as an historic site, this landmark imparts a distinctive character to the surrounding area of residential farms, known locally as "Hunting Country."

Several historic sites in the North Pacolet River Valley, nestled into a modern day rural landscape of open fields and residential farms, evoke memories of its'arliest settlers. The Earle and Prince families came from Virginia via The Great Wagon Road in the 1760s. "Four Columns," a graceful antebellum mansion, was built by Baylis Earle in 1807 on land originally granted by King George III. Several generations of Earles are interred in a private family cemetery located west of the house. Four Columns is today a private residence, with the mansion and surrounding fields protected by a conservation easement. Also arriving in here in the 1760s were the Jacksons, who came from "The Waxhaws" on the Catawba River near present day Charlotte, NC. The Jacksons left lasting footprints in the valley. The Bessie Jackson House, built in 1815 by third generation settler Thomas Jackson and willed to his son, James, is one of the area's most distinctive landmarks, now protected by an easement to Preservation . Two other homes associated with the Jackson family are located in this historic valley, one on North Pacolet Road and the other on Silo Road. Jacksons Grove United Methodist Church, established by the family in the 1830s, has been designated as a historic site by the United Methodist Church. The current sanctuary, which replaced the original log structure, was dedicated in 1875 and still serves an active congregation committed to serving the greater community and preserving the church as a place of quite dignity in keeping with its historic character. Although the first known interment in the church cemetery was the burial of Susannah Jackson in 1859, the presence of fieldstone markers suggests that several church members, including slaves owned by the Jackson family, may have been buried on the site much earlier. The North Pacolet River Valley of today is still a rural landscape, offeding unobstructed views of these historic treasures.

Members of the Earle and Jackson families figured prominently in the Revolutionary War history of the region. The Eerie's Ford Battlefield, situated on land owned by Baylis Earle at the junction of Highway 14 and the North Pacolet River, was the scene of a humiliating defeat for the Loyalist dragoons who were bested by local partisans on July 15, 1780 — one of several skirmishes in present day Spartanburg County, that helped set the stage for the British surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Thomas Jackson, who served as captain of a local militia unit, is thought to have taken part in the battle. The battlefield today is a vast expanse of farmed and partially wooded land. The portion that lies west of the river is now owned by Greenspace of Fairview. Protected from future development by a conservation easement to Upstate Forever, it offers a dramatic view of the land so hotly contested in the struggle for our nation's independence.

Many other families have left their footprints in the Carolina Foothills. Shortly after Emancipation, Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church was founded on land donated by the Hampton family. Union Grove is one of the oldest Black churches in the vicinity; the name memorializes the union of Baptists and Methodists in a single congregation that has continued its'inistry in the community to the present day. Although a modern structure has replaced the original log sanctuary, markers in the church's historic cemetery reflect a long history. Kato Jackson, formerly a member of the Jacksons Grove Church, and his wife Amanda, are interred in the cemetery along with generations of their descendants, members of the Jackson, Wilson and Doggett families. Union Grove is located on Landrum Road, east of its'ntersection with Golf Course Road.

The Mills family arrived in present day Polk County, North Carolina in the 1760s, and built several homes in the area, including Mills-Screven Plantation, a National Register property built in 1820 and located northeast of the town of Tryon in an area that is still largely rural. Although family patriarch Col. Ambrose Mills was hanged in 1780 for supporting the Loyalist cause in the American Revolution, the Mills family became one of the most prominent in the area. Dr. Columbus Mills, a fifth generation descendant of Ambrose, served in the North Carolina state legislature, where he spearheaded the effort to create Polk County out of Henderson and Rutherford Counties. His longstanding effort finally came to fruition in 1855. The county seat, Columbus (http://www.columbusnc.corn), was founded in that year, incorporated in 1857, and named in honor of Mills. The historic Polk County County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to serve the county today. The town of Columbus still evokes memories of the "small town America" of the assembling large tracts of land on either side of the North Pacolet Valley and preserving the small town, rural ambiance of the area. Caroland Farms, originally a cattle farm operated by the Slater family, remains a working cattle farm with only limited rural residential development. The land across the river was known as the Emerald Bar S after it was purchased by the Sloate family in the early 1950s; in 1956, it was purchased by the Del Guercio family and renamed Fairview Farms. Initially a cattle operation, Fairview shifted its'ocus to preparing young thoroughbreds for the racetrack under the guidance of farm manager Tony Wallace. Today, the historic rural character of the land is preserved by the restrictive covenants of Golden Hills of Fairview and a conservation easement on the 1300+ acres of Greenspace of Fairview.

Drawn by the historic rural landscape of the Foothills region, those who have chosen to make their homes here have an abiding respect for all that brought them here. Retirees, equestrians, and others who have suffered the consequences of unchecked development in other areas are committed to nurturing and preserving the small town, rural identity of this place. They have impacted the historic landscape only minimally, supporting local businesses, charities, and civic organizations and ensuring the survival of a local economy based on tourism, agriculture, wineries, and equestrian sport. Echoes of the past are ever present in these Carolina Foothills.

f Culbreth, Blanche W. The Jacksons Grove Story, privately printed, 1983, online edition at www.jacksonsgrove.org; Holcomb, Brent H., Jackson of North Pacolet: Descendants of Samuel Jackson, Sr., privately printed, 1991; Polk County Historical Association, Polk County, North Carolina History, 1999 reprint of 1983 ed., Spartanburg, SC, The Reprint Company; Quatannens, Jo Anne McCormick, Fairview Farms: A Brief History, privately printed, 2001; Taft, Katherine H., and Albert H. Creasy, comps., Polk County, North Carolina Cemeteries, 2004 reprint of 2002 edition, Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company for Polk County Historical Association, Inc. See also links to the above referenced Columbus, Tryon, Saluda (NC) and Landrum (SC) websites.

Jo Anne McCormick Quatannens, Ph.D. 2015 Jo Anne McCormick Quatannens

Jo Anne McCormick Quatannens is a consulting public historian who has lived in Campobello, SC since 1997. She received her PhD from the University of South Carolina in 1984; one of her four areas of concentration was Applied (Public) History. While working on her Masters'nd PhD degrees, she was employed by Historic Camden, South Carolina, and the University of South Carolina McKissick Museum. She formerly worked for History Associates Inc., in Rockville, Maryland, where she performed contract work for the US Department of Energy, the Henry P. Kendall family, the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the US Army Corps of Engineers. With former Atomic Energy Commission historian Dr. Richard G. Hewlett, she conducted a study and co-authored a report that led to the establishment of the US General Accounting Office (now Government Accountability Office) history program. She later worked for the US Senate Historical CÃfice as Assistant Historian, where she compiled a bibliography of works by and about former US Senators, co-authored a history of the Vice Presidents of the United States, and responded to inquiries from Senate offices, the press, the scholarly community, and the general public.

She has served on the boards of directors of the Polk County, NC and Spartanburg County, SC Historical Associations, and is currently the historian of Jacksons Grove United MethodistChurch. Sheisamemberof Phi Beta Kappa, the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture, and the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic.