Rock Hill, South Carolina | ||
---|---|---|
City | ||
City of Rock Hill | ||
Downtown Rock Hill
|
||
|
||
Nickname(s): The Gateway to South Carolina; Football City USA | ||
Motto: Always On. | ||
Location of Rock Hill in South Carolina |
||
Coordinates: 34°56′17″N 81°1′34″W / 34.93806°N 81.02611°WCoordinates: 34°56′17″N 81°1′34″W / 34.93806°N 81.02611°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | South Carolina | |
County | York | |
Founded | 1852 | |
Incorporated | 1892 | |
Government | ||
• Type | Judicial | |
• Mayor | Doug Echols (D) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 43.16 sq mi (111.8 km2) | |
• Land | 43.16 sq mi (111.8 km2) | |
• Water | 0.16 sq mi (0.4 km2) 0.4% | |
Elevation | 676 ft (206 m) | |
Population (2016) | ||
• Total | 72,937 | |
• Density | 1,532.8/sq mi (591.8/km2) | |
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | |
ZIP codes | 29730-29733 | |
Area code(s) | 803 | |
FIPS code | 45-61405 | |
GNIS feature ID | 1250417 | |
Website | www |
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina, United States and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, unlike Rock Hill). As of the 2010 Census, the population was 66,154. In 2016, the population had increased to 72,937.
Rock Hill is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Charlotte and approximately 70 miles (110 km) north of Columbia.
Rock Hill offers scenic riverfront views along the Catawba River and is home to numerous nature trails, restaurants, and thirty-one parks which are used for both national and local events. Its historic downtown consist of twelve contiguous buildings built as early as 1840 offering dining and retail options.
Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the Piedmont for thousands of years. The historic Catawba Indian Nation, a traditionally Siouan-speaking tribe, was here at the time of European encounter. Currently the only tribe in South Carolina that is federally recognized, its members live near Rock Hill.
Although some European settlers had already arrived in the Rock Hill area in the 1830s and 1840s, Rock Hill did not become an actual town until the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad Company made the decision to send a rail line through the area. Originally, the railroad had hoped to build a station in the nearby village of Ebenezerville which was squarely between Charlotte, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina. When approached, however, the locals in Ebenezerville refused to have the railroad run through their village since they considered it dirty and noisy. Instead, engineers and surveyors decided to run the line two miles away by a local landmark. According to some accounts, the engineers marked the spot on the map and named it "rocky hill."