Rockhill

Rockhill is on Farm Road 3122 a mile north of the north end of Lake Cypress Springs Dam, ten miles southeast of Mount Vernon, and eighteen miles northeast of Winnsboro in Franklin County. It had two churches, a school, and, for a short time just after World War I, a country store. The earliest church building was located north of the present road to Snug Harbor and was used by both Baptists and Disciples of Christ. Around 1901 the Baptists moved to Macon, but in 1918 they reorganized and built a new building just east of the present intersection of Farm Road 3122 and the Snug Harbor road. In the late 1930s or early 1940s the congregation withered and disbanded. In 1905 the Disciples built a new structure just east of Farm Road 2783. The old Rockhill school had one room and two teachers. Around 1911 a two-room school was built. In 1915–16 records show a scholastic population of sixty-seven. The probable population of the community was 150 to 200. Rockhill entered a decline, which accelerated with the Great Depression and culminated with World War II, for the soil became depleted and there was no industry to provide jobs for the youth. By the end of the war the community was virtually extinct. All that remained was the Rockhill Cemetery. Burials probably began there in the late 1870s. Lake Cypress Springs was built adjacent to the old Rockhill site in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and many modern homes and businesses have been established around the lake. Several real estate developments have matured, and new neighborhoods have sprung up, such as Snug Harbor, Catfish Bay, and Walleye Park. The lake is a popular attraction for water skiers, fishermen, and boaters. The Monticello Coal Mine and TU Electric operations are nearby. In the late 1980s the countryside was fast becoming a profitable ranching area. Rock Hill was still listed as a community in 1990.