Q. What’s the history of the Rock Hill community and of Oakley Road in Castle Hayne?
A. Rock Hill most likely was given its name by early explorers “for the unusual outcroppings of rocks in this otherwise unrocky terrain,” said Joseph Sheppard, a library associate with the New Hanover County Public Library.
A farm there owned by the Dr. William Waters Davis family was known as Rock Hill in the mid- to late-19th century. A Colonial-era farm also known as Rock Hill was also on the site, owned by a Jehu Davis, Sheppard said.
The farm changed hands “and it probably was named back as Rock Hill by Dr. Davis,” Sheppard said.
Oakley Road was named for the Oakley farm. The site is listed in newspaper stories from 1833 to as late as 1934.
A story was told locally about children living on the Oakley farm in 1865 in the final year of the Civil War, watching Union soldiers march north, but Sheppard was unable to locate further information.
Do you know more about the history of these areas? Let us know in the Comments section below.
RELATED LINKS:
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What is the history of that creepy-looking place on Castle Hayne Road?
Date posted: February 1, 2013
User-contributed question by:
Demetrius Hill
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