York County is a county located in the north-central section of
the U.S. state of South Carolina. According to the 2010 census,
the county's population was 226,073. It is the second largest
county in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Its county seat is
York and its largest city is Rock Hill. Pre-colonial and
colonial history With a population of nearly 6,000 at the time
of first European contact, the native inhabitants, the Catawba
were primarily agriculturalists. Hernando de Soto passed through
the area in the 1540s in his search for gold. Several decades
later Juan Pardo recorded his observation of a predominant
Native American tribe, later confirmed to be the Catawba, in the
vicinity of present-day Fort Mill, east of the Catawba River.
The colony of South Carolina was founded in 1670. Twelve years
later it was divided into three counties. Craven County, which
roughly encompassed the northern half of the colony, included
the southern half of present-day York County, while the top
portion of York County was c