A house RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE TOWN OF FORT MILL FOR ITS RICH HISTORY and its inviting landscape AND TO CELEBRATE WITH ITS CITIZENS THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that the Town of Fort Mill is celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary throughout the year 2023; and

Whereas, Fort Mill was established in 1873, and derived its name from its location between two points: a fort constructed by the British in colonial times to protect the friendly Catawba Indians from marauding tribes to the north and Webb's Mill, a grist mill on nearby Steele Creek; and

Whereas, the Catawba Indians made their home in present day Fort Mill for many years. In the mid 1700s, Thomas Spratt and his wife, Elizabeth, were traveling through upper South Carolina and spent a night among the Catawba Indians who invited them to stay and live in the area on a large tract of land given to them.  The first white settlers in the Fort Mill area, the Spratts soon were followed by Scots-Irish settlers who began arriving in the 1750s and 1760s and developed a small settlement; and

Whereas, when President Jefferson Davis and his Confederate Cabinet passed through the area during their flight from Richmond and the Union Army in 1865, the last meeting of the full Confederate Cabinet was held at the White Homestead in Fort Mill.  Fort Mill's Confederate Park contains the nation's only monument to slaves laboring on the Confederate side of the American Civil War; and

Whereas, Fort Mill grew rapidly in the late nineteenth century as textile mills were established.  After many textile mills shut down, the town continued to grow rapidly as a major suburb of Charlotte; and

Whereas, still a quaint town, Fort Mill is located on twelve square kilometers just south of the state line shared with North Carolina.  Today fewer than ten thousand residents live within the corporate limits with a total of some thirty-five thousand residing within the entire township.  It boasts three golf courses and six parks, three of which have picnic shelters, children's playgrounds, and restrooms.  Two of the parks have lighted baseball fields, two have basketball courts, and one has a small water park; and

Whereas, the same spirit of friendliness and hospitality experienced by Elizabeth and Thomas Spratt in the 1750s continues to permeate Fort Mill today, and their descendants still reside there.  Their descendant, John Spratt, represented the area in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2011.  Fort Mill was also the home of Elliott White Springs, a World War I flying ace, author, industrialist, and member of the South Carolina Hall of Fame; and

Whereas, Fort Mill officially marked its sesquicentennial milestone on Sunday, February 12, 2023, and will continue celebrating with special activities throughout the year: Family Fun Day on March 25, the South Carolina Strawberry Festival Events from April 29 through May 6, and the Fort Mill Fall Festival in October; and

Whereas, several community partners are helping Fort Mill to celebrate this momentous milestone, including Domtar, Fort Mill Economic Partners, Anne Springs Close Greenway, and the Fort Mill History Museum; and

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives deeply appreciates the storied past and the vital contributions that the Town of Fort Mill makes to the Palmetto State, and the members look forward to sharing its continued success in the years to come.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the Town of Fort Mill for its rich history and its inviting landscape and celebrate with its citizens the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of its founding.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the Honorable Guynn Savage, Mayor of the Town of Fort Mill.

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