A Guide to Olde York: The White Rose Tour

By Yorkville Historical Society

Welcome to York, a city that can trace its beginnings to the origins of York County, South Carolina. Explore the thirty different styles of architecture in a compact historic district that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Within three blocks, discover how an elephant brought Santa Claus into town. Walk the paths of Catawba and Cherokee warriors and chiefs, as well as where leaders and militia rode during the Revolutionary War. And imagine the sights and sounds as Jefferson Davis gave his last public address before the cabinet of the Confederacy dissolved. The Yorkville Historical Society offers this fascinating history and more in a guided tour through the White Rose City.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Apr 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781439669693

Yorkville Historical Society

The Yorkville Historical Society was founded in 1978 to foster and promote historical preservation and restoration in the city of York and its environs. Yorkville Historical Society, PO Box 1122, York, SC 29745.

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Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright © 2020 by Russell Propst, Deborra Wood, and Wanda Fowler

All rights reserved

Front cover image and design courtesy of Karenmarie Marley.

About the image: The image on the cover includes painted wooden miniatures from the Grace Ebersold Ulbricht Collection at the Culture and Heritage Museums in York County, South Carolina. The collection consists of 169 miniature wooden, painted carvings of buildings, churches, and houses in York County. It was completed in 1992 by Grace Ebersold Ulbricht and her first husband, Mel Ebersold. The items selected for the photo were chosen from the ones labeled York.

Back row: Trinity United Methodist Church, Rose’s Hotel, McCelvey Center, and Allison Creek Presbyterian Church.

Front row: Witherspoon and Hunter House, York Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Gillespie House, McConnell House, and York County Courthouse.

First published 2020

E-book edition 2020

ISBN 978.1.43966.969.3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019956036

Print Edition ISBN 978.1.46714.564.0

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the authors or The History Press. The authors and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of William Floyd Allison Jr. His original research and dedication paved the way for this book. Floyd was a charter member of the Yorkville Historical Society and was instrumental in the formation of the society in 1978. He served on numerous committees and on the board of directors. He was a York native who graduated from York High School in 1941, and he graduated from the Citadel in 1944. He was the owner of Allison Insurance Agency and was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church for approximately twenty-five years.

W. Floyd Allison Jr. Courtesy of Anne Allison.

W. Floyd Allison Jr. Memorial Park at the Greater York Chamber of Commerce, 23 East Liberty Street. Courtesy of Karenmarie Marley.

In 1997, Floyd and his wife, Anne, were chosen to represent the historical city as the Duke and Duchess of the York Summerfest festival. They exemplified the spirit, character, and southern hospitality for which the White Rose City is widely known.

Floyd was a member of several professional and community organizations. One of these organizations was the Jaycees, which, in 2003, dedicated the W. Floyd Allison Jr. Memorial Park in York. In 2004, the Yorkville Historical Society established the W. Floyd Allison Award for Excellence in South Carolina and United States History. This award is given annually to York middle school students who excel in academics, leadership, and character. This award is a fitting way to honor the memory of a man who worked diligently to promote the city of York and its future while preserving its past.

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

The White Rose City: Origin of the Nickname

York County and the City of York

Tour Introduction

Tour Tips

1. South Congress Street and California Street

2. Jefferson Street

3. West Liberty Street

4. East Liberty, North Roosevelt, Garner, and Hunter Streets

5. Downtown: West Side of North Congress and West Madison Streets

6. Downtown: East Side of North Congress and East Madison Streets

7. Kings Mountain Street, Herndon Avenue, and 200–1020 North Congress Street

Appendix A: York Architecture Sampler

Appendix B: Oldest Buildings and Sites in York

Appendix C: Historical Site Locations, by Category

Glossary of Terms

Notes

Bibliography

About the Authors

PREFACE

This book is a revised, newly researched, and redesigned version of the walking tour books that were released between 2002 and 2012. It contains many corrections and additions. It is based on sites within York that are listed in the 2008 Historic Architectural Survey of the City of York: Final Report. The survey was conducted by Brockington Cultural Resources Consulting with oversight from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. The city used the survey to establish the City of York Historic District, which is a large area that surrounds the old 1979 National Register Historic District. A large number of the sites in these areas are included in this book. Several noteworthy sites outside of the survey area are also included. But no matter where the sites in this book are located, they all meet the criteria for the National Register of Historic Places.

This edition of the York tour book has much more historical information than previous publications. The early history of York County and York City—and their relationships to the locations on this tour—have been added. Downtown Congress Street and its connection to regional and national history are covered in much greater depth, which we hope you enjoy. In cases where time did not allow researchers to determine the history of a building, only its architecture is described. The research for a new residential district tour has been completed, and we hope to publish it soon. The residential tour will include more houses, because there are so many in the National Register of Historic Places.

There are several important areas of historic York that we wanted to add, but time did not allow us to research every location. We are disappointed that our goal of adding more African American heritage sites, the Mill Village District, Smith Street, Inman Farm, and other locations, was not met. We hope that future property owners and researchers will add these sites to the files in the Historical Center of York County for future versions of this book.

Our desire is to be as accurate as possible. If you find errors in our work, please bring documentation to prove the correction to the Historical Center of York County at 210 East Jefferson Street, York, South Carolina. The documentation will be added to the tour book research files and used to correct future editions.

Thank you for your interest.

Thank you to society members for your patience in awaiting this book since research started eight years ago.

—Yorkville Historical Society Tour Book Committee Wanda Fowler (chair), Scott Hollis, Russell Propst, and Deborra Wood

Fergus Crossroads Monument with the York County courthouse in the background. Located at the corner of South Congress and West Liberty Streets. Courtesy of Karenmarie Marley.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AND REFERENCES FOR THIS BOOK

The history of each site in this book is based on documented sources. Source lists and document excerpts for each site are located here:

Historical Center of York County

210 East Jefferson Street

York, SC 29745

Contact the public research desk at [phone].

There is a site address file for each site address in this book. Site address files contain photographs, historic architecture survey lists, National Register Historic District pages, and copies of tax cards, tax maps, and historic territory and insurance maps. These files also contain lists of deeds, key probate references, and copies of key deeds, estate documents, references to specific tour book topic files (described below), and lists of specific references used to write the history of each site, including books, newspapers, and other publications.

There is also a set of topic files related to locations and stories in this book. Topic files contain information and in-depth research that apply to multiple sites. Examples include topic files for Reconstruction, Jefferson Davis’s flight from Richmond, the chronology of Revolutionary War battles and events in the York region, unpublished memoir excerpts, the combat experience of local militia commanders, copies of 1756–1936 maps, the 1786 Yorkville Village Plan map, court minutes, old photographs, Sanborn Insurance Map sections from 1894 to 1926, address cross lists, the 1979 National Register York Historic District, major downtown fires, cotton mills, banks in York, et cetera.

Some of the sections in this book contain superscripted references and endnotes. Other sections do not contain these notes, as the authors did not begin incorporating endnotes until the later stages of book preparation. Document sources for those sections can be found in the hard-copy site address files and topic files, which can be accessed by visiting or contacting the public research desk listed above.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Tour book revision chair: Wanda Fowler, who is recognized for her extraordinary dedication and leadership

Publisher coordinator: Wanda Fowler

Researchers: Wanda Fowler, Scott Hollis, Russell Propst, Deborra Wood, and Mary McCorkle

Editor: Deborra Wood

Layout: Russell Propst and Deborra Wood

Reference file system: Scott Hollis has our thanks for the hundreds of hours he devoted to establishing and organizing the historical research files for each tour location.

Layout and printing consultant: Clyde Cobb III

Photographs courtesy of the following: Tiffany Eakin, Wanda Fowler, Karen Jones, and Maria Morgan. Karenmarie Marley has our special thanks for her professional photography and photograph editing, and we would like to thank her for her creation of the book cover.

Historical photographs courtesy of: Historical Center of York County, the Culture and Heritage Museums; Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University; Museum of Western York County; Jeanne Ferguson; Chester Historical Society; and the Yorkville Historical Society

We would like to say a special thanks to the previous researchers, historians, Yorkville Historical Society members, and many others for all of their work, which gave us an extensive base to build on.

Robert Scott Hollis, 1962–2019. Courtesy of Maria Morgan.

Our special thanks go to Nancy Sambets, the director of archives at the Historical Center of York County; Wanda Fowler, researcher; the staff of the Historical Center of York County; and Michael Scoggins, historian and director of research for the Southern Revolutionary War Institute, for their research assistance and their help in reviewing key sections of the manuscript.

We would also like to thank Winthrop history professor, former York mayor, and Yorkville Historical Society president emeritus Dr. J. Edward Lee; lifetime York resident and Yorkville Historical Society president emerita Jan Ramsey; longtime York resident and historical property realtor and restorer Jeanne Ferguson; and residents Scott Hollis and Mary Montgomery for their review of the manuscript.

Finally, our special thanks to the City of York for helping underwrite the cost of the historical images used in the book and for commissioning the 2008 Historical Architectural Survey of York.

THE WHITE ROSE CITY

Origin of the Nickname

Among the settlers in York County, South Carolina, were pioneers from York County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvanians traced the name of York County to an area in England that was controlled by the Duke of York. The duke’s family was called the House of York, and before England was fully unified, the family maintained its own army that used the white rose as its symbol. The House of Lancaster was the House of York’s rival, and its army used the red rose as its symbol. In the late 1400s, the Houses of York and Lancaster fought to determine who would be the next ruler of England in what became known as the Wars of the Roses. The White Rose City of York and the Red Rose City of Lancaster, South Carolina, got their nicknames from this English history.

YORK COUNTY AND THE CITY OF YORK

The City of York and York County were born simultaneously in 1785, shortly after the Revolutionary War ended in 1782 and the peace treaty was signed in 1783. In 1785, South Carolina’s legislature approved the creation of thirty new counties and their borders, including York County. The law required county courthouses to be at the most convenient part of each county…for the inhabitants. Seven York justices were appointed to pick the location of York County’s courthouse and jail, build them, and establish the county’s court and government. The law also authorized the collection of taxes for construction and for government functions, which were administered by the justices. The law stated that each justice was subject to fines of thousands of dollars in today’s money if they failed to construct the courthouse and jail. Two of the justices were Colonel William Hill and Colonel William Bratton, who commanded militia regiments during the Revolutionary War.

The geographic center of York County was chosen as the location for the courthouse and the village of Yorkville. The center of the county was located at the intersection of diagonal lines that were drawn, corner to corner, on a map of the 1785 county borders. At that point, there happened to be a crossroads where at least seven roads met. That crossroads was located on a two-hundred-acre tract that had been owned by two Fergus brothers in the early 1780s. Because of its location, the crossroads temporarily became known as Fergus Crossroads.

Colonel William Hill drew up a crossroads village plan (1786 Village Plan) that included Liberty Street, Congress Street, numbered lots, and lots for the courthouse and jail. Hill, who had purchased the property, donated the lots for the courthouse and jail. The buildings, both constructed of squared logs, were completed in 1786. Hill sold other lots by number, and in 1786, Fergus Crossroads became Yorkville.