A Timeline of the Anne Springs Close Greenway

Mid-1760s

Pre-Colonial The “River People,” also known as the Catawba Indian Nation, inhabited this area along the Catawba River for thousands of years. Early colonial estimates of the Catawba population when settlers arrived are between 15,000-25,000.

Following the French and Indian Wars, William Elliott leases two tracts of land in Fort Mill, nearly 700 acres, from the Catawba Nation, becoming one of the area’s first settlers.

This land holding would expand to more than 3,000 acres by 1850, and a considerable section would eventually become part of the Anne Springs Close Greenway. William Elliott is the maternal great-great-great-great grandfather of Anne Springs Close.

1652 Gertrude Springsteen, a Dutch widow, emigrates to New Amsterdam (now New York City) with her daughter and three sons.

Over the years their surname would be anglicized to ‘Springs’.

1652

1766

John Springs (Gertrude’s great-great grandson) and his wife Sophia emigrate from Delaware to what is now the Charlotte area of North Carolina. Charlotte was incorporated in 1768.

After the Revolutionary War, John’s son Richard Springs began acquiring land leases along Steele and Sugar Creeks in South Carolina, parts of which would become the Anne Springs Close Greenway.

1780

During the Revolutionary War, England’s Lord Cornwallis’ troops used the Nation Ford Road on their retreat from Charlotte. The Nation Ford Road has a long history as a trail used by Native Americans, traders and settlers throughout human history in this area. It is a part of the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, which stretches from Philadelphia, PA to Augusta, GA and was the first major road along the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

1831

2013

1831 William Elliott White and wife, Sarah Robinson Wilson White, maternal great-great grandparents of Anne Springs Close, construct the White Homestead to accommodate their growing family. Together, they had nine children, including Samuel Elliott White, 1887 founder of Fort Mill Manufacturing Co., the future Springs Cotton Mills.

1806

Springfield House is constructed

by John Springs, III and his wife, Mary Springs, paternal great-great grandparents of Anne Springs Close, on leased land gifted by Mary’s father, Richard Springs.

Springfield serves as a residence for the Springs family until 1897 when their son, Andrew Baxter Springs, builds a new home in Charlotte.

1931

Elliott White Springs takes over his father’s textile business upon his death. He would later consolidate the textile mills into Springs Cotton Mills, one of the nation’s leading brands. In 1938, he would create the not-for-profit Leroy Springs & Company to manage community recreation facilities in communities where Springs Mills operated. Upon his death in 1959, the eight children of Anne Springs Close inherit the land which will become the future Greenway.

1896 Elliott White Springs is born to Leroy Springs and Grace White Springs. He would become an author, a fighter pilot and a textile magnate during his lifetime.

Known as Colonel Springs, he would gain recognition for serving as a World War I flying ace.

1861 Leroy Springs, paternal grandfather to Anne Springs Close, is born to Andrew Baxter Springs and Blandina Baxter at Springfield House.

He later marries Grace White, the daughter of Samuel Elliott White, and founds Lancaster Cotton Mill.

1925 Anne Kingsley Springs is born to Colonel Elliott White Springs and Frances Ley Springs. She would explore the family’s lush land throughout her youth, growing into one of the nation’s most prominent environmentalists and philanthropists.

The Anne Springs Close Greenway would be named in her honor nearly seven decades later.

2005

1994 The Nature Center (Coltharp House) and Faires-Coltharp Cabin are relocated to the Greenway from their original location, which is near present day Gold Hill schools.

The Greenway Board of Managers, created to provide future vision and direction of the Greenway, meets for the first time. This group of community leaders from throughout the region share the Greenway’s commitment to preservation, recreation and education.

1996 The Dairy Barn is renovated from its original use as a production facility for Springs Mills’ cafeterias and reopens as a special event venue, creating a space for hundreds of brides and grooms to marry in this iconic structure.

Bruce T. Rush Pavilion was constructed near Lake Haigler. This pavilion burned in spring 2006 and the replacement was completed August 31, 2006.

1989

1995

1999

2007

The eight children of Anne Springs Close preserve the 2,100 acres of land that would become the Greenway by gifting it to Leroy Springs & Company. The siblings sign the documents by candlelight in the days after Hurricane Hugo ravaged the land and existing facilities.

Anne Springs Close Greenway officially opens to the community in Fort Mill, SC on Earth Day. It is owned and managed by the longstanding Leroy Springs & Company, serving as a not-for-profit public entity.

The original home of the grandfather of Rev. Billy Graham is relocated to the Greenway from the area now known as Baxter Village.

The land of the Greenway is placed under a conservation easement held by the Nation Ford Land Trust, an action designed to protect the land for recreation, education and land management in perpetuity.

1995

2009 Greenway constructs a replica of the Garrison Webb Gristmill, for which Fort Mill is named, at its historic site along Steele Creek.

2012

Greenway launches its first ever capital campaign, Nature Needs You, to raise critical funds for an endowment and several capital improvement projects, including the Marion Walsh Outdoor Classroom, Comporium Amphitheater, the Greenway Gateway, improvements to the Adventure Center, and wayfinding improvements.

The Anne Springs Close Greenway ranks for the first time among the top tourist attractions in the Charlotte region, according to the Charlotte Business Journal, with over 90,000 visitors. Today, the Greenway ranks #15 with over 265,000 annual visitors in 2019.

2019 The Greenway Gateway opens as the formal ‘front door’ and welcoming entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway.

2015

2016

Mary Warner Mack Dog Park is dedicated and opens to the public in May. The new Comporium Amphitheater opens that summer.

The Green Gala is established as the Greenway’s annual fundraising event, raising more than $250,000 to date.

2020