History

The recent growth in this area has been phenomenal. From 1990 to 1998, the township's population rose from 17,300 to 25,000. when we reach the year 2015, our projected growth will be 35,219.

From the resort community of Tega Cay to the small-town charms of Fort Mill to the unspoiled rurual stretches of Indian Land, people are finding it the ideal place to call home. It's no wonder, since Fort Mill Township has a rich history that enlivens the community.

Much of the area's history stems from the Catawba Indians, the only surviving Native American tribe in South Carolina.

At one time, 30,000 Catawbas roamed this area. Unfortunately, few records exist about the tribal nation before 1760, when small pox and other European diseases diminished it to 1,000. The oldest artifact dates to about 600AD.

In 1763, the English 'gave' the Catawbas 144,000 acres-land originally theirs anyway-as a reward for helping them defeat the French in the French and Indian War. That original reservation spraweled botht hte township, originally called Fort Hill, and Indian Land. The Catawbas began leasing that land to settlers soon afterward, renting btween 30-1,000 acres to each.

Both settlers and Catawbas used the ancient Nation Ford Road, which dates back to at least 1650, to travel and trade from Pennsylvania to Charles Towne (now Charleston). The trail passed through the Catawba Nation's five villages and crossed the Catawba River where the railroad trestle now exists.

Parts of the trail can still be seen, especially ion the Anne Springs Close Greenway.

Settlers opened a post office in 1820. By 1826 the Catawbas had rented all their land out, an event that forced them of their own reservation. In 1840 the Catawbas signed the Treaty of Nation Ford and sold the land to the state, which ended their control over this area.