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Mt.
Croghan was named after a French officer of the Revolutionary War, Major Croan.
On his way to Virginia, after the Battle of Camden, he and his men camped on the
hill overlooking the present town, where the Methodist Church is now.
However, the territory had long been a settled area of Chesterfield County, with
many of the original families moving in along the North Carolina/South Carolina
line. Located here was an important crossroads. Traveling north would take one
to Hailey's Ferry crossing the PeeDee River; traveling south would take you to
Camden, and the east-west road connected Cheraw with Lancaster. Now Highway 9,
this was an old Indian path connecting the Cheraw Indian village with that of
the Waxhaws.
Robert Parton and Gustavieus Hendricks were two of the first in the area to
receive land grants. Both later sold their land to Joel Meadows (Meadors). By
1809, Mt. Croghan was a voting precinct and had its on post office. After the
death of Joel, his widow married Samuel Shelby, who sold the land to James
Fields in 1822. The next year he in turn sold the land to Judge Josiah Evans of
Society Hill. Turner Bryan bought the land next and by 1834, had built a
blacksmith shop, a store, and the School House on Spring Branch. In 1836, The
Elizabeth Academy was built across from Elizabeth Baptist Church, which was
founded in 1819. The academy was considered a prestigious High School which
taught Latin, Violin, History, Geography, the three R's among other subjects.
This property is north of the current town site on the Maysville Road. The land,
except for the 10 acres that the blacksmith shop and store were on, then passed
to Turner's son-in-law, Francis Johnson, who died by 1855.
The town continued to grow until the destruction experienced when Sherman's Army
came through. After the War, Mt. Croghan once again began steady growth, mostly
dependant upon agriculture. By the early 1900's there were eight to ten stores.
On October 3, 1911, J.C. Burch, T.M. Moore, C.F. Taylor, J.O. Taylor, J.H.
Timmons, N.T. Rivers, J.S. Funderburk, W.A. Rivers, and J.N. Ratliff , submitted
the paperwork to have the town of Mt. Croghan incorporated, which was approved
by the Secretary of State, R.M. McCown on May 28, 1914. At that time, the stated
population was 150.
Mayor Charles L. Burch said in the 1940's, Mt. Croghan had four service
stations, a barber shop, a Post Office, a drug store, a cement plant, a brick
plant, two cotton gins, a stationary saw mill, a corn mill, seven grocery
stores, one hardware store, and River's Auto. Now only the Post Office and a
store is left. Ruby Manufacturing still produces a little, but on the whole,
employment is found in the surrounding towns and cities. He is proud of the
improvements achieved in recent years and in particularly proud that there are
no town taxes. The population as of 1990 was 131 residents.
Also,
the buildings that are left in Mt. Croghan face Highway 9 as it is today. The
older portion of town faced the road behind the service station, which is
appropriately named Old Lancaster Highway. The brick bank and other buildings
are no longer there.
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