Tillman Hall is the original building on the Winthrop University campus. Originally known as Main Building, it was built in 1894 and given its current name in 1962 after former governor and avowed white supremacist, Benjamin Tillman. In addition to being the focal point of the campus, it is also one of the few surviving examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the state. It appears the building currently houses administrative offices. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places 1977.
Following the landmark court case that allowed for desegregated interstate travel, Black and white students across the country participated in Freedom Rides, a bus trip throughout the south. The first group of 13 passed through Rock Hill, South Carolina, where they were brutally beaten and assaulted by a white mob of racists and anti segregationists. The students received delayed assistance from the Rock Hill police, an action that in 2008 the standing Mayor of the city apologized for.
This beautiful home was built in 1898 for John Gary Anderson, who was a prominent figure in Rock Hill in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He co-founded and was the president of the Anderson Motor Company, which was one of the few car manufacturers in the South. Anderson also contributed to the development of the city. As for the house itself, it is an excellent example of the Queen Anne style. Anderson chose the design from a published catalogue of plans by George Franklin Barber, who was one of the country's most well-known architects at the time. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to be a private residence today.
The former Rock Hill Cotton Factory had a tremendous impact on Rock Hill's growth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Built in 1881, it was the city's first cotton mill and the first steam-powered textile mill in the state. The factory was a boon for the local economy as it was a major employer and very productive (by 1884, it produced 85,000 bales of cotton). Its success demonstrated that textile milling was profitable in Rock Hill and as a result, six other mills were built by 1907. In terms of architecture, the factory is a good example of an early textile mill and its design was emulated in future mills. Today, the old factory is an office and retail building.
In 1960, McCrory's department store was the site of a student sit in for civil rights. Students from Friendship Junior College had been denied service at the stores lunch counter and sparked protest. Because of the sit ins, the store closed it's lunch counter for 11 days, after they reopened the protests continued for over a year. The store closed in 1997.
Rock Hill, SC is home to many federal buildings following the Public Buildings Act of 1926, but the first of these is the Federal Courthouse and Post Office. This historic site is now home to a variety of studios and artists as the Gettys Art Center in "Old Town Rock Hill."
With its soaring five-story tower, First Presbyterian Church has been an important landmark in Rock Hill since its construction in 1894. It is home to a congregation founded in 1854 that has contributed significantly to the religious and cultural development of the city. South Carolina architect Charles Coker Wilson designed the church in the Late Victorian style. The sanctuary is circular in shape with eight gables and a cupola on top; the tower features sets of three windows, an open fifth level, and a pyramidal roof; arched and rose windows; and decorative finials. The attached education building was constructed in 1999. First Presbyterian was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
The White Home was built in 1838 as one of the first homes in the town of Rock Hill. From 1838 to 2003, five generations of the White family lived in the house and left a major impact on the town. Now the headquarters of Historic Rock Hill, the White Home houses a collection of historic artifacts that tell the family's story as well as the story of a growing Rock Hill.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour begins at a historic home that is one of the oldest in the area and moves on to several landmarks in the center of Rock Hill such as the First Presbyterian Church and the federal courthouse. The tour includes landmarks related to economic development as well as civil rights and concludes at Tillman Hall, the first building constructed on the Winthrop University campus.
