Fergus Crossroads     40     Corner of Liberty St & Congress St.

You are at the point where York began.  This was Fergus Crossroads, where the stage route from Charleston to Lincolnton crossed the stage route from Charlotte to Augusta.

This pivotal building was designed by Robert Mills in 1823 for York County as a jail.  The plain façade, broken only by the lines of the windows and fanlighted doorway, shows the simple symmetrical lines of the Federal Period.  When a new county jail was erected on West Liberty Street, William A. Latta, a wealthy merchant, whose lovely home still stands next door, bought the old building, and, after converting it into a residence, gave it to his daughter, Anna Latta Wilson.  Her heirs bequeathed the income from the building to Episcopal Church Home for Children, and the proceeds of the sale of it, if ever sold, to Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, SC.  It is presently occupied as offices for commercial purposes.  This building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

A pivotal house.  This three-story house was built by Robert Latta, a wealthy merchant, in 1824.  The walls of the house are twenty-four-inch solid brick.  These bricks were brought from England as ballast by merchant vessels returning to Charleston and were hauled by wagon from there to York.  The building rests on a three-foot-wide solid granite base extending eight feet into the earth.  The false window inserts show the designer's devotion to balance and symmetry.  The home was famed for its walled-in gardens, complete with strutting peacocks, and for its own gas light system for the chandeliers in the house.  Mr. Latta sought the finest materials from around the world for his Yorkville residence.  The interior features cherry woodwork and rare imported black marble mantels.  At the turn of the century, a two-story addition at the rear of the home was built for servants.  The crack visible in the south end of the building was caused by the Charleston Earthquake of August 31, 1886.

A pivotal building.  This hotel was built in 1852 by Dr. J. R. Bratton and Dr. E. A. Crenshaw.  It was called the Rose Hotel after the Rose family who operated it for many years.  The Rose Hotel was referred to in Columbia and Charleston newspapers as being “one of the most palatial hotels in the Up-Country.”  The building is an example of classical commercial architecture with its brick and concrete stucco pilasters and Greek Revival double gallery.  This building remained a hotel until the end of World War II, when it was purchased by the Cloniger Brothers and used as a carpet manufacturing plant.  After standing idle for decades, it now has become apartments and offices.

At the end of the War Between the States, Confederate States Secretary of War Breckenridge, fleeing the fall of Richmond, spent the night in York and made a speech to the populace from its second-story gallery, telling the people to “keep the faith”.  In later months the Rose Hotel housed six companies of the U.S. 7th Cavalry and two companies of infantry, “Occupation troops”, during the Reconstruction Period.  The notorious Captain Merrill and his troops continued to be stationed here until Wade Hampton was elected Governor, restoring order.  President Hayes relieved them in 1877.  The building was completely renovated and turned into apartments and offices in 2000.

Historic marker noting Confederate States President Jefferson Davis's flight from Richmond.

Across the street is First Baptist Church.  First Baptist Church was organized in May 1866, as the Yorkville Baptist Church.  Among the 15 charter members were two former slaves.  The present sanctuary cost about $4,000 and was dedicated on January 10, 1892.  Later the women of the congregation acquired the Gothic stained glass windows from a church in Gastonia, NC.  The first pipe organ was installed in 1935; however, the present one came more recently from Grace Baptist Church in Sumter, SC.  In 1954 pews replaced theater-type seats in the Sanctuary.  Classrooms at the back of the sanctuary were added in 1927, and in 1936 the two-story educational building was erected.  A renovation and building project, begun in 1991, includes the covered drive-through entrance and parking lot on the north side of the educational building, and a large fellowship hall and office wing, located behind the older facilities.  Among the treasures of the Church are seven oil paintings by artist Robert Nippress.  These are displayed in the vestibule and in the hallway behind the sanctuary.

This restored cottage was constructed in the 1890's and was one of several similar homes built on each side of Hudson Street for the workers in the Travora Mill, which was owned by Mr. Walter Moore of Yorkville, and,was until recently, located a short distance to the south.  This cottage is the only remaining original structure on Hudson Street.  The cottage was owned for many years by Mr. Marshall Lynn, of Columbia.  Odell Cody purchased the property in 1982, restored the building, and sold it in 1987 to John W. and Rhonda J. Logan of Rock Hill.

Immediately behind the Baptist Church on Cleveland Avenue is the Smith/Hart/Runge house, a pivotal house.  Built circa 1815 by Judge William Smith, who served in the U.S. House and Senate, this home was sold to Robert McCaw in 1852.  Major James Hart, a Confederate war hero and senator, bought the house in 1870.  After an 1881 fire, the home was rebuilt in Victorian style.  Other changes include a front porch and removal of the third floor of the tower.

Originally located on the corner of South Congress and Jefferson Streets, the house was moved to its present site on Cleveland Avenue by the Yorkville Historical Society to avoid demolition.  It was built by the White family in 1811 and may be the oldest house standing in York.  It was later leased to a Miss Tanee, who used the house as a finishing school for ladies.  Several prominent men who contributed to the political scene during the antebellum period (including two lieutenant governors) have lived in the house.  The house includes unusual “Chinese Chippendale” columns and pegged joists throughout.  In the 1850s, a rear wing had been added, but it was removed when the house was relocated in 1980, restoring the house to its original “two room over two room with a central hallway” floor plan.