Topics Related to Anson County

Dr. Hugh Bennett Photo from the Archives of Union CountyWhy We Have Soil and Water Conservation DistrictsOf the layers of soil that we walk on every day, we are perhaps most concerned with topsoil which, oddly enough, lies just below the surface. This is where seeds germinate, and the healthier and richer it is, the more productive a crop. It was the degradation and loss of topsoil that led to the Dust Bowl, compounding the economic stress of a nation already in the throes of the Great Depression.

Location: US 74 east of PolktonCounty: AnsonOriginal Date Cast: 1962(The Brown Creek Soil Conservation District marker is an oversized marker with extended text. That text follows.)Here was established the first district in America for a systematic program of land erosion control. Known as the Brown Creek District because it embraced the area of the Brown Creek Watershed, it heralded the beginning of a national program of soil conservation districts.

Free black served as a Baptist pastor at Rocky River Church until law in 1831 barred blacks from public preaching. Buried 500 yards west.

"Father of soil conservation." First chief of the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1935-1952. Born 4 miles southwest.

Missionary Baptist. Began before 1772 as a branch of Little River Church; was independent by 1790. Present bldg. 3 mi. N.E.

Eighteenth-century house built by Patrick Boggan, Revolutionary soldier & a founder of Wadesboro. Now historical museum. Located 2 blocks south.

Associate Justice, State Supreme Court, 1878-1887; Member of Congress, 1873-1877; Member of Confederate Congress; legislator. Home is one mile west.

Established by local planters, later operated by Methodist Church. Building was 150 yds. W.

NORTH CAROLINA / Colonized, 1585-87, by first English settlers in America; permanently settled c. 1650; first to vote readiness for independence, Apr. 12, 1776 b/w SOUTH CAROLINA / Formed in 1712 from part of Carolina, which was chartered in 1663, it was first settled by the English in 1670. One of the 13 original states.

Jurist & Antifederalist leader. Member of court which in 1787 issued the first reported precedent for judicial review. His home stood 3 miles N.E.