James Milton Cherry House

Front inscription

The home of James Milton Cherry (1856-1920) stood here until 1974. Cherry was a businessman, public servant, agriculturalist, and real estate developer in Rock Hill for 50 years. He helped found the Young Men’s Loan & Trust Co., one of the first banks here and later the Savings Bank of Rock Hill. Cherry was also a founder of the Rock Hill Light & Power Co., the Land & Town Site Co., and the Rock Hill Telephone Co.

Reverse inscription

Cherry was intendant, or mayor, of Rock Hill 1890-91 and later a longtime city councilman. A partner in the Rock Hill Buggy Co., he founded the Carolina Traction Co. to power an electric street railway. He was known as “The Alfalfa King” for advocating hay as a cash crop and a national spokesman for diversifying crops. Cherry Road, named for him, was paved in 1920 and was one of the first concrete roads in S.C.