In prehistoric times dinosaurs, mastodons and saber tooth tigers lived here. In later years herds of bison roamed the land along the Catawba River. For more than 12,000 years Indian Tribes made their homes here and many of their tools have been found in the plowed fields of the Farm. Early European visitors along the river included Hernando de Soto in 1540, John Lawson in 1700, and General Cornwallis in 1780.

John Springs III (his father and grandfather had lived nearby) and wife Mary Springs came to Fort Mill around 1800 and leased farm land from the Catawba Indians who owned 144,000 acres around Fort Mill. John and his family built their home and called it Springfield. Today it is used as the headquarters for the Leroy Springs Company. The home is located beside Nation Ford Road, a section of The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, which was the primary route used in the settlement of the South and much of the nation.

The road in front of Springfield is today called Springfield Parkway. On an earlier plat, the road was called Webb's Mill Road. John Springs acquired the water powered grist mill around 1813. The mill was used to grind corn and wheat and to saw lumber. A dam across Steele Creek created a mill pond which covered about 13 acres and the wheel, according to one census, was 24 feet in diameter and was 4 feet wide. We have no description of the operation but this rendering shows the ponds' approximate location and what the mill might have looked like. John Springs owned other mills, including one on the Catawba River, but the Webb's Mill of Webb's Mill Road was the inspiration for the "Mill" of Fort Mill.

For many years Springs Farm's main crop was cotton which was transported to the seaports of Charleston and Savannah for shipment to England. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney near Savannah in 1792 began the era some have called "King Cotton". Even as most cotton was transported to England, many efforts were being made to establish a textile manufacturing industry in New England and in the southern states. John Springs, like most cotton growers, faced a major challenge in getting his cotton to a seaport. Dirt roads made travel difficult for light loads but almost impossible for the heavy wagons loaded with cotton. Rivers were used to transport the cotton once the roads reached the open water below the rocky shoals of the fall line. The major inland shipping points for Springs' cotton were Cheraw (the Pee Dee River), Camden (the Wateree River) and Hamburg (a town that was once situated across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia). Cotton was hauled by wagon to these towns and then placed on boats, including steam boats, and was taken to Charleston or Savannah for loading onto ocean going ships.

Inland transportation by canals around shoals was also a large activity in South Carolina in 1820-1840. Like the railroads and plank roads that came later, the idea was to improve inland transportation. John Spring's cotton hauled, by wagon or boat, to Camden went through the Santee Canal on its way to Charleston. As the Landsford Canal was completed, Springs' cotton would be shipped down the Catawba through the Canals at Landsford, Fishing Creek, Rocky Mount, and Wateree, then on to Camden.

Banking became a new and very big business in all these towns - John Springs was active in banking, not only as a customer, but as a stockholder. In addition, one of his friends, Hiram Hutchison, had formed the Hamburg Bank as the town became a cotton shipping center on the Savannah River. Springs also invested in other banks in the area that had similar beginnings.

These men became active in several other ventures that changed the South and the Nation. Charleston was losing shipping business to Savannah. In 1832, with these two men as investors, the South Carolina Railroad began operation from Charleston to Hamburg. It was the first railroad in America and at 134 miles was the longest in the world. John Springs continued his interest in railroads and was instrumental in extending the South Carolina Railroad from Augusta to Columbia, across the Catawba River and then on to Charlotte in 1848. The towns of Rock Hill and Fort Mill, along with many others formed along the railroad track which ran through John Springs land at Springfield.

Near Hamburg, another business was beginning to grow that would change the area. Textiles manufacturing had been a home based business until about 1800. Wool and cotton picked from the seeds by hand was the basic raw material and hand cards, spinning wheels and hand looms were used to make fabrics. The invention of the cotton gin greatly increased the usage of cotton. People were beginning to build factories to weave fabrics, first with hand powered machines and then with water powered machinery. The textile industry which began in England later moved to the New England states. In 1837 William Gregg of Charleston, the Father of the Southern Textile Industry, joined with Hirum Hutchinson, John Springs and other investors to provide the capital to build Graniteville Mills which along with the mills in Augusta were major sites of textile activity in the 1840's.

With John Springs III death in 1853, Springfield and its land became the responsibility of his son Andrew Baxter and Julia Baxter Springs. They continued the many Springs' business interests and had a family including son Leroy.

The Civil War that came soon had a major impact on the lives of all people living in Fort Mill for many years. No battles were fought here, but Sherman and his troops burned the wooded railroad bridge over the Catawba River at Nation Ford in his march through the South. The current railroad bridge is steel but the steel rests on the original concrete piers from 1848.

In 1887, Samuel White, a neighbor, formed Fort Mill Manufacturing. The Company would later become Springs Cotton Mills, Springs Industries and today Springs Global. This textile manufacturing business used cotton as a major raw material. Samuel White's daughter Grace Allison and Leroy Springs would marry in 1892 and the adjoining Springs and White Farms would become one. Samuels' father, William Elliott White's home is called The White Homestead (today a guest house for the Family) and Samuel White's home, The Founders House, is used as a guest house for Springs Global. As a member of the New York Stock Exchange, Springs Industries was the 200th largest corporation in America with more that 40 plants and more than 30,000 employees across the nation and around the world prior to going private in 2001.

As earlier mentioned, John Springs in the 1840's traveled by boat down the Catawba River hauling cotton through the Landsford Canal on his way to Camden in the 1840's. Louise Pettus in "The Springs Story - Our First Hundred Years" (textile manufacturing) related that in 1899, Leroy Springs purchased the Landsford Water Power Company which included the site of Landsford Canal and the adjoining 1,600 acres. The Landsford Canal was one of the eight canals that were the basis of 1820 inland transportation program to transport cotton to Charleston. All eight of the canals had failed and had sat idle for 50 years. By 1890 the shoals where the canals were located were being used as dam and canal sites to generate electrical power for the textile mills. It was Leroy Springs intent to build a power station to furnish electrical power for his Lancaster and Chester manufacturing operations and also generate enough power for the towns of Lancaster, Chester and Fort Lawn. In 1902, Springs contacted General Electric with a proposal to build a large cotton mill with an accompanying village on the banks of the river at Landsford with GE building the dam and power plant. The proposal was similar to others being done with the old canal sites around the state. Not successful with that plan, Springs later sold the Power Company. Leroy Springs, like his grandfather John, was trying to use the River and Landsford Canal to make his textile business more profitable. The march of time had only changed the details.

Although cotton was no longer its major crop, Springs Farm continued to grow peaches, apples, vegetables and many other products and had cattle and the pastures and hay to feed them. In the 1930's, Elliott White Springs, John Springs' great-grandson and son of Leroy built the original The Peachstand. Today it is called The Old Peachstand and is located at the intersection of Highway 21 and Highway 160 in Fort Mill. Louise Pettus in "The Springs Story - Our First Hundred Years", said this of Springs Farm: "Elliott Springs, Farmer Back in the 1920s after his father removed him from his post as treasurer at the Fort Mill plant, Elliott decided to be a combination dirt farmer and author. He teamed up with Thomas B. Spratt of Fort Mill and hired a Clemson-trained extension agent for the purpose of helping Fort Mill district farmers abandon their dependence on cotton as their only money crop. Tobacco was experimented with but conditions were not suitable to turn it into a money crop. While the agent's services were free to other farmers of the area, there was little response and the agent was not kept more than a few years. R. F Palmer, a former agriculture teacher, was hired to manage the 7,200 acre farm which expanded from peach trees and vegetables to include top-notch commercial dairy and chicken houses. Springs Farm had fruit and vegetable stands near Fort Mill and on Wilkerson Blvd. and Independence in Charlotte. Peaches and nectarines were shipped to New York restaurants until 1953, always commanding top prices. Springs especially delighted in giving his peaches (25 different varieties) and nectarines (his favorite) to friends and visitors. In the summer, he would leave his Fort Mill home peach baskets tucked in all the space of his automobile. The Colonel rarely apologized to one of his executives face to face, but "you might go out to get the paper and there was a bushel of peaches or nectarines sitting on your porch.""

Elliott Springs purchased a herd of registered guernseys for the purpose of serving milk in the textile operation's cafeterias and also built The Dairy Barn. His efforts were aimed at creating a Model Farm. Today the Barn has been renovated into a spacious and unforgettable setting for weddings, parties and other gatherings.

The New Peachstand was built in 1980 and is located across the street from the Old Peachstand. The Farm Market was built in 1997 and is located on Springfield Parkway about a quarter mile from John Springs home Springfield and about a half mile from the site of his grist mill.

In 1995, the Family set aside 2,300 acres of the Farm and formed the Anne Springs Close Greenway, a gift to the state of South Carolina and the Fort Mill community. The Greenway, named for Elliot Springs' daughter, has 37 miles of trails for walking, running, biking and horse back riding. Springs Farm strawberries and peaches are grown on the Greenway and along the edge of the Catawba River.

Also in 1995, a plan called the Clear Springs Plan was made public. The plan announced the intention to develop the remainder of the Families' 7,000 acres in Fort Mill. Baxter, Kingsley and Springfield are the first of those communities developed around the Greenway property.

The Springs Farm and its people have been in Fort Mill Township for more than two centuries. They have been good stewards of the land and have played a major role in making the community and its people what it is today. Implementation of The Clear Springs Plan insures that this trend continues into the Future.

Compiled and written by David Youngblood.


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