An Architect of the New South: a Case Study of William Lawrence Hill and Sharon, South Carolina

This is a case study of William Lawrence Hill and Sharon South Carolina. Mr. Hill was born in 1866 and grew up under the harshness of Reconstruction which taught Hill that above all else he did not want to become a southern farmer. At the age of ten, Hill was operating a mercantile, for the benefit of the Blairsville, South Carolina community. In 1898, Hill relocated about twenty miles away to the community called Sharon. Hill along with four other men incorporated the Sharon community into a town and served as a member of its first city council. William L. Hill lived through the most formidable and trying times our country has faced and by the magnitude of both personal and business records that have remained we can, through detailed examination, get a very accurate picture of what life was like, on an individual basis rather than a broad perspective during those trying times