Developer vows to protect Blackstock Cemetery in Fort Mill

Steve Miller probably has as much time invested in preserving Blackstock Cemetery as anyone. So when he says construction won’t touch it, he means it.

“We’re going to go around that cemetery and we’re not going to bother it,” Miller said of the .6-acre site off of U.S. 21. “I have kin buried out there. I don’t have any desire to do anything negative there.”

Carowinds Point Crossing bought almost 19 acres along U.S. 21 — just south of the I-77 northbound off ramp at exit 90 — in 2007 for almost $1.7 million. Miller bought out a partner after the economy soured. Now he’s likely within three months of selling the property, either in parts or as a whole.

Graders continue to level the property, which eventually will sit about five feet below the current road surface. Miller estimates maybe 14 or 15 acres of the property can be developed due to steep topography. The ongoing construction to level it is exposing not only dirt, but the old Blackstock Cemetery now visible from the highway.

“It all started one day as I drove by the plot of land as it was being cleared and I could see it from the road,” said Eric Ransone, a resident who spent months researching the site. “I did not know what it was, but I could’ve swore I saw headstones.”

Ransone reached out to municipal, civic and church officials, even a paranormal research group. He found little on the site that for years was surrounded by woods.

“I also know Fort Mill has a really nice history behind it, and it is sad that nobody really knows much about the origins and history of the cemetery, in which lie some of the first Fort Mill residents and leaders,” he said.

Enclosing much of the site is a waist-high stone wall, about a 30- or 40-yard square. One headstone stands seven feet high. Many are large even by current standards, many more small and weathered. Many are broken and more are illegible. Some date back to the 18th century. One of the more recent deceased date is 1979.

Miller said he spent almost two days clearing out trees and other debris. Many small plants still grow through the cemetery. Of the stones that best handled the weathering, names include Roddey, Boyce, Querry, Harris, McClelland, Parks and Kimbrell. Many are family sites from the late 19th or early 20th centuries.

Retention fencing sits about 10 feet away from the stone wall. The wall shows no signs of damage from recent construction. Miller said he likely will put a small parking area nearby with dirt around the cemetery leading to it. He isn’t yet sure what businesses will call the surrounding site home.

“It’s definitely not going to be residential,” he said.

Miller has $250,000 invested into the property just in taxes since he bought it. The sale price, either in parcels or at once, will dictate commercial use. He just doesn’t know what type.

“Motel? Restaurant?” he said. “Just something that will fit in with this area and go with what we have around here.”

The property also is too expensive not to develop and sell. Miller has heard concern from people who wanted the property to remain wooded. He said it isn’t feasible. But between state laws forbidding it and personal feelings on the site, he said, folks needn’t worry about the graves giving way for construction.

“We’re going to leave them alone,” Miller said.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Developer vows to protect Blackstock Cemetery in Fort Mill."