“C” is for Clover

“C” is for Clover (York County; 2020 population 6,800). Although Clover celebrated its Centennial in 1987, the town's history goes back to the mid 1870s when the Chester and Lenoir Railroad placed a five-thousand gallon water tank at the site of the future town. According to local legend, water spilling from the tank yielded a patch of Clover on the ground, giving the town its earlier name of Clover Patch. The town was chartered by the General Assembly in 1887 with around one hundred residents. The first of three textile mills (the Clover Spinning Mill) was constructed in 1890. In 1985 Duke Energy constructed the Catawba Nuclear Power Plant near Clover. Although the railroad line that helped give birth to Clover was abandoned in the early 1980s, textiles and manufacturing have remained important the town’s economy.