This historic home in Society Hill was built for John Kolb McIver around 1800, shortly after the town was founded. Welsh Baptists had settled along the Great Pee Dee River in 1736 and established the communities of Welsh Neck and Long Bluff. By the end of the eighteenth century, both communities, which are no longer extant, had relocated to an area surrounding a school, St. David’s Academy, which was founded in 1777. The area was called Society Hill and attracted new residents from around present-day Darlington County. McIver, who was from Mill Plantation in Darlington, built this stately home in the new town and raised a family here.
The John K. McIver House remains a private residence. It is listed in the National Register as part of the Welsh Neck-Long Bluff-Society Hill Historic District:
The Welsh Neck-Long Bluff-Society Hill area is one rich in historic significance. The Welsh Neck community was an early religious center (a ca. 1738 Baptist church was established here) for the Pee Dee region, and Long Bluff served as a judicial center. The courthouse at Long Bluff, with its jail, tavern, and supporting buildings, was a center of activity for the Upper Pee Dee region during the Revolution. Few small communities have contributed more to the public in the way of culture, education and leadership than has Society Hill. It has numbered among its population outstanding leaders in religion and education, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, authors, and agriculturists. The Society Hill Library Society was formed in 1822. This group grew out of the St. David’s Society, founded 1777 in Cheraw, which had a wide-spread influence and was a main factor in making Society Hill a center of intelligent leadership in the Pee Dee for a century and a half. This is a rural community with many fine antebellum homes in the Georgian mode. Constructed on large lots or in wooden settings, many are two-storied clapboard structures with one-story front verandas. Nineteenth century mercantile establishments still operate in unadorned frame buildings of a purely functional design. Within the entire district there are approximately 250 structures. Welsh Neck and Long Bluff, both now unoccupied wooded areas, are considered excellent potential archaeological sites.
My 4x great grandfather arrived in Charleston on a ship called Live and Unity. On June 12, 1805, he was purchased by John McIver. I’m curious to know do any of the slave quarters still stand.