Rock Hill streets will be renamed for 3 fallen police officers. See where and why

Three Rock Hill police officers and South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame members will be honored with streets bearing their names in the city where they died while on duty.

The South Carolina Legislature approved new road names in May to honor Robert Gilmore Johnston, Robert Morris McFadden and Steven Wayne Jordan. York County is working to put up signage with the new names, and a county transportation committee can approve state funding for them June 1.

A date hasn’t been set for when the signs will go up.

The three officers died in a 70-year span. The Herald used Hall of Fame and state legislature information along with its own archives to find out more about them:

Robert Gilmore Johnston

A York County native born in July 1856, Johnston had three children from a prior marriage before marrying Nancy Bailey in 1892. That same year, Johnston joined the Fort Mill police force. He was later named chief of police in the town where he lived until joining the Rock Hill Police Department in 1904.

Two years later, Johnston died after a Colt revolver slipped from his pocket into a coal box while he was shoveling coal to warm city council chambers. The hammer on the revolver struck a lump of coal causing the gun to discharge, striking Johnston. He died the following day at Rock Hill Hospital.

Johnston was buried in the Presbyterian Church cemetery in Fort Mill. He was inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame in 2020.

Part of Johnston Street, from Dave Lyle Boulevard to South Wilson Street, will become Officer Robert Gilmore Johnston Memorial Street. Johnston Street in Rock Hill predates the officer’s death, Herald archives show.

Robert Morris McFadden

Born on a Lewisville farm on May 12, 1896, McFadden had six brothers and two sisters. He married Carrie Lee McCoy in 1920 while working at a Rockingham, North Carolina, cotton mill.

McFadden joined the Army in 1917, fought in World War I and was discharged in 1919. Four years later, he joined the Rock Hill Police Department.

McFadden became a motorcycle officer but was killed in an automobile wreck in November 1933. Police Chief F.B. Hood drove McFadden and Constable W.J. McCarter behind an ambulance that day, responding to a call where two Ohio women suffered minor injuries in a wreck.

The car skidded when Hood slowed down to turn, then rolled over. Hood and McCarter were injured in the wreck near the airport, about two miles south of the city on Chester Highway.

Thousands of people attended McFadden’s funeral in a cold rain two days after his death, at the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was buried with full military honors in the Legion Plot at Laurelwood Cemetery. McFadden was survived by his wife and a son, O’Neal.

McFadden was inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame in 2020.

A portion of Saluda Street, from Johnston Street to Albright Road, will become Officer Robert M. McFadden Memorial Street.

Steven Wayne Jordan

Jordan was born Feb. 15, 1953, and showed an early interest in law enforcement. He and wife Sue Walker had a daughter, Shannon Lynn.

Jordan joined the Rock Hill Police Department Community Service Officer Program for people under age 21. He graduated from the Criminal Justice Academy in 1973 and the following year, upon turning 21, Jordan was sworn in as a Rock Hill officer.

On New Year’s Eve 1975, Jordan stopped a blue Rambler Station Wagon on Deas Street at 1:30 a.m. Half an hour later, he didn’t respond to a check-in call and police got a call stating a police car was found abandoned with the motor running on Charlotte Avenue.

More than an hour later, two officers stopped the same Rambler near Northwestern High School and found evidence linking the vehicle to Jordan.

The driver was arrested and confessed to killing Jordan. The driver led police to a site about 25 miles away where Jordan’s body was recovered. He had been shot about 14 times. Jordan, 22, was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery.

During a two-day trial, Rambler driver Richard Edward Workman was found guilty of killing Jordan.

Information presented during the trial suggested Jordan came to Workman’s vehicle about half an hour after the initial stop and tried to help when Workman had vehicle trouble. That’s when Workman shot Jordan.

Initially receiving a mandatory death sentence for killing an officer, Workman’s sentence was changed to life in prison. He died in 2009 after repeated unsuccessful attempts at parole.

Jordan was inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame in 1986.

A portion of Charlotte Avenue, from McDow Drive to North Avenue, will become Officer Steven Wayne Jordan Memorial Street.

This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 11:52 AM.