Our Town
How Eastover Got Its Name
…. “from its location on the east side and over the river. It was formerly called Flea Hill. There is a tradition that there was a tavern on the sandhill under which hogs and goats slept – hence the fleas.” (From John A. Oakes’ The Story of Fayetteville, The Story of Fayetteville and The Upper Cape Fear, 1950, Fayetteville, NC)
Before Flea Hill, the area may have been known as Mary’s Garden. There was a US post office in Cumberland County named Mary’s Garden located 8 miles from Fayetteville. (John S. Hampton. The North Carolina Guide and Business Office Companion, Raleigh, 1877.)
The Strothers Map of 1808 with data from 1860-1865 civil war era names of towns and such show Mary’s Garden in what is now known as Eastover.
According to oral history accounts, when Scots-Irish settlers in the upper Cape Fear River basin named Mary’s Garden, the area was named facetiously because the soil was very poor and produced very little in crops.1 (An account by James McNeil “Mac” Williams as told to him by his grandfather, Interview, April 2008).
Fayetteville newspaper accounts also referenced Mary’s Garden in 1855. On April 23, 1855, the newspaper reported various wood fires,
“Most serious losses we have heard of were at Mary’s Garden, over the river, several buildings of T. R. UNDERWOOD, Esq. were burnt.”
On September 17, 1855, the following death report was given:
“At residence of her husband near Mary’s Garden in this county, 5th inst., Mrs. Rebecca Eliza CULBRETH, wife of Gray CULBRETH, in the 25th year of her age. Leaves husband & 4 children. Member Methodist E. Church for last 6 years.”
The Flea Hill Township was renamed the Eastover Township in 1865 by the NC General Assembly.
The Town of Eastover was incorporated by the North Carolina General Assembly on Thursday, July 26, 2007. The incorporation effort was led by a group of dedicated residents called the Progress Eastover Committee. Members of the committee were: Chairperson Sara Piland, Lawrence Buffaloe, Helen Crumpler, John Dunham, Kim Fisher, Joetta Geddie, Willie Geddie, Robert Grover, Lee Hedgecoe, Cheryl Hudson, Chris Hudson, Don Hudson, Marilyn Johnson, Morgan Johnson, Charles McLaurin, Shirley McLaurin, Lisa Patterson, Benny Pearce, Howard Piland, Howard Piland, Jr., Don Price, Liz Reeser, Barbara Roberts, Rupert (Rudy) Tatum, Jr., and James McNeil “Mac” Williams. The legislative effort was superbly led by one of the most effective legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly, Representative Rick Glazier.
Eastover FIRSTS
“Eastover was one of the FIRST schools in the county to consolidate. The school was opened in the fall of 1902 for the pupils of Rock Hill, Flea Hill, and Bear communities. Cyrus Murphy and Miss Henrietta Holmes were the two teachers.” (From John A. Oakes’ The Story of Fayetteville, The Story of Fayetteville and The Upper Cape Fear, 1950, Fayetteville, NC, p. 466) It also was reported to be “the first county-supported school with more than one teacher on the east side of the Cape Fear River.” (The Fayetteville Observer, February 14, 1947)
“A high school was established in 1909 and it became, in 1919, the FIRST accredited high school in the county system.” (From John A. Oakes’ The Story of Fayetteville, The Story of Fayetteville and The Upper Cape Fear, 1950, Fayetteville, NC, p. 466)
“Eastover District was the FIRST district in the county to levy a special tax to extend their school term from six to eight months and is considered by authorities to be one of the best schools in the county.” Bids for the new Eastover High School were awarded on May 4, 1924 and was the “largest of the schools in the county and will have thirteen classrooms in addition to an auditorium, offices, and laboratories. (The Fayetteville Observer, Mary 5, 1925)
Eastover was the FIRST community in Cumberland County to establish a rural water system. “Talk of a community water system began in 1994 with members of the Eastover Civic Club” and the bond passed in 1999. Four months later, in January 2000, Eastover won approval for nearly 4 million dollars in loans and grants from the Rural Development Division of the US Department of Agriculture. (The Fayetteville Observer/Times, January 10, 2000)
According to a brochure promoting golf in Cumberland County, “the first round of golf in the New World was played in a pasture just a short distance outside of Fayetteville by a Scotchman named Alex McGrain in 1728.” Could this be an Eastover FIRST?????
Eastover History Trivia
“The Fayetteville and Northern Plank Road was laid out to cross the Cape Fear River above Fayetteville and within three miles of the City and thence to Flea Hill (now Eastover) on the old stage road, and then by Averasboro, through Johnston and Wake to Raleigh.” (p. 373) (It is believed that this road passed to the east of the Johnny Patterson home on Beard Road.) The Flea Hill Academy was chartered in 1831. (p. 450)
Two McLarens (McLearan, McLaurin) were listed in Flea Hill District, Cumberland County, in the 1830 US Census: Duncan McLaurin (070) and John McLaurin (074) The Abstract of Deeds of Cumberland County, N.C., Volume One, Books 1-3, 1754-1770 records a deed on July 8, 1757 from Duncan McLearan of Cumberland To John McLearan for 100 acres on the drains of Locks Creek, on the side of savannah, patent 16 March 1756.
The Flea Hill Church on Middle Road became Salem Methodist Church in 1848. (J. H. Myrover, Short History of Cumberland County, 1905).
Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is one of the oldest churches in Cumberland County. Mount Zion, formerly called “Flea Hill African Methodist Zion”: Church dates from 1855 and is the second documented organized African American Church in Cumberland County.
More Info On Eastover’s Geographic History
According to oral history accounts, when Scots-Irish settlers in the upper Cape Fear River basin named Mary’s Garden, an area east of the Cape Fear River and adjacent to Cross Creek (now known as Fayetteville), the area was named facetiously because the soil was very poor and produced very little in crops.1 (Resident James McNeil Williams as told to him by his grandfather).
Today, residents of the newly incorporated Town of Eastover would likely say Mary’s Garden, which was located in what eventually became known as the Eastover Township, now has a special richness of its own, one that is embodied in the quality of life the Eastover community offers.
Exactly when Mary’s Garden was so named is not known; however, a post office called Mary’s Garden was documented in 1853 by US Postal Service records and in 1877 by John S. Hampton’s The North Carolina Guide and Business Office Companion which listed Mary’s Garden as a post office eight miles from Fayetteville. Fayetteville newspaper accounts also referenced Mary’s Garden in 1855.
On April 23,1855, the newspaper reported various wood fires,
“Most serious losses we have heard of were at Mary’s Garden, over the river, several buildings of T. R. UNDERWOOD, Esq. were burnt.”
On September 17, 1855, the following death report was given:
“At residence of her husband near Mary’s Garden in this county, 5th inst., Mrs. Rebecca Eliza CULBRETH, wife of Gray CULBRETH, in the 25th year of her age. Leaves husband & 4 children. Member Methodist E. Church for last 6 years.”
The disappearance of Mary’s Garden as a post office and perhaps community name is undetermined. Various maps of the late 1800s and the early 1900’s do not list Mary’s Garden but do list two communities only a short distance apart in what was the Mary’s Garden vicinity, Luray and Beard.
Colton’s 1865 map does not show Luray; however, a 1895 map and Scarborough’s 1906 Map of North and South Carolina include these listings. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad tracks passed through Luray and Beard as the railroad tracks still do today in the Beard community. Similarly, the 1906 Scarborough map also shows the Flea Hill Township, which legend says got its name from the infestation of fleas in a local tavern.
The Flea Hill Township was renamed the Eastover Township in 1865 by the NC General Assembly.
Education In Eastover
High student achievement is a tradition in the Eastover community. Several issues of the Fayetteville Observer offers the following insight into the community’s emphasis on education (, May 5, 1925, September 13, 1983)
In 1884, John Geddie and Jennetta Geddie sold one acre of land to the Public School Committee of District (illegible) for white race, Flea Hill Cumberland North Carolina. The property adjoined one corner of the Salem Church property. (Deed recorded in the Cumberland County Register of Deeds)
In 1889, J. C. and Mary Geddie sold one acre of land to the Public School District No. Four Col. (colored), Flea Hill Township for the sum of twenty dollars. The Public School Committee members mentioned in the deed were George Elliot, Issac Young, and William J. Reeves. (Deed recorded in the Cumberland County Register of Deeds)
In 1901, the school census reported 475 white students and 74 African American students in the Flea Hill District. (Judson R. Dicks, Education in Cumberland County, North Carolina, 1900-1943, a thesis presented to the faculty at UNC in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Education, (Chapel Hill, NC: 1949), 33.)
The first Eastover School (for whites) was established in 1903 after a “group of interested patrons and neighbors from the communities of Rock Hill, Flea Hill and Beard met in the Salem Church and decided to consolidate the three one-teacher schools.” The first teachers were Miss Henietta Homes and Mr. Cyrus Murphy as a teacher and principal. In 1903-04 , after the suggestion by Joe E. Holmes, the school was named Eastover. Miss Holmes, known as “Miss Hennie” taught for 45 years with 37 of those years at Eastover. The original school was located near Salem Church but was moved around 1907 to a location across Middle Road from the church.
“The first instructional supervisor was employed in 1916 for Negro Schools. She was called a Jeanes supervisor because the source of funds for her salary. This supervisor was a great help in stimulating the interest of Negro patrons in school and community betterment.” Mrs. Maude Scurlock was the first Jeanes supervisor and worked for one year. Mrs. Anne Chesnutt Waddell then assumed this position and served for twenty years. She was followed by Mrs. Mae Rudd Williams. (“The Vanishing One-Teacher School,” author unknown, a compilation of articles on the history of the Cumberland County Schools, 1.)
In 1919-1920, the Flea Hill Township had 8 African American schools with one being Flea Hill School with one teacher. (Dicks, “Education in Cumberland County, North Carolina, 1900-1943,” 44. )
The Douglass Elementary School was located in the Johnson Community on what is now known as J. Herbert Road in Eastover. It was the only school in the community for African American students in 1930 and was in existence from 1930 until about 1950. (Interview, Will Geddie, Eastover resident and former student at Douglass Elementary School, 2010)
Eastover School (for whites) became the first accredited high school in Cumberland County in 1919. (February 14, 1947 edition). In 1925, the Eastover school district was the first district in the county to “levy a special tax to extend their school term from six to eight months” and was considered at the time “to be one of the best schools in the county (May 5, 1925 edition).
To provide a larger, more modern building, the community obtained a ,000 bond and a new brick building was completed in 1926. In 1928, the Godwin and Wade High Schools were consolidated with Eastover and in 1932, Stedman and Sunnyside High Schools were added to Eastover. (February 14, 1947 edition).
“The Eastover Colored School was located in District 7 (Eastover area). Mary C. Cole was the teacher there during the 1931-32 school year.” (“A Century of Schools in Cumberland County: 1850 – 1950,” Cumberland County Public Library, Digitized Collection online, http://www.cumberland.lib.nc.us/lshistory.)
In 1936, the Eastover School burned, leaving only the brick walls standing (April 23, 1936 edition). A new building for elementary school students was erected on site and a new high school was built on the site of the current Eastover-Central Elementary School, about three miles further north on Hwy 301. (February 14, 1947 edition)
In 1969, high schools east of the river were consolidated into Cape Fear High School. Central High School was converted to Eastover-Central Elementary School in 1983 (September 13, 1983 edition). Eastover Elementary School was then closed and subsequently was sold to native resident Charles G. McLaurin. For several years, the Eastover Trading Company, an antique consignment business operated in the building.
In 2007, the building was restored to its original beauty with authenticity by developer Chuck Furr and has resumed its place of dignity as a medical offices facility.
The landmark cupula on the building was struck by lightning during the 2007 renovation and a replica quickly took its place (Interview, Eastover Mayor Charles McLaurin, April 2008).
Today, education continues to be one of the community’s greatest assets with local elementary schools, Armstrong and Eastover-Central, and Mac Williams Middle School and Cape Fear High School showing exemplary achievement.