One of the confusing things about where we are right now is the abundance of places called Kings Mountain. There are actually four of them and you have to specify which one when you are talking to people. It can get a little confusing. When we tell people we volunteer at Kings Mountain, they always ask us “which one?”
The first Kings Mountain is Kings Mountain National Military Park. It wasn’t the first chronologically, but it is first in our minds because it is where we are living and working. When Patrick Ferguson, the commander of the Loyalist troops here, wrote to Cornwallis to tell him he was making a stand, he said that he was located on little Kings Mountain. At that time the knob on which the battle took place didn’t really have a name, but after the battle it was known as Kings Mountain battlefield.
The second Kings Mountain is the actual Kings Mountain, located over the state border in North Carolina, about six miles from the knob on which the battle took place. You can hike to the top of it from Crowders Mountain State Park. We cross over the state border from South to North Carolina almost every day because we can’t get to anyplace, including most places in South Carolina, unless we go to North Carolina first. The biggest claim to fame of the Mountain is that, on clear days, you can see the Charlotte skyline from the top. The Mountain was named after a man named King and is not related to King George III or any of those British monarchs.
The third Kings Mountain is Kings Mountain State Park, next to Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina. This is a very pretty state park with hiking connected to the Military Park, camping, picnic areas, and a living history farm that is open in the summer. This past weekend we had a group of Boy Scouts that spent the night at the State Park, hiked over to the National Military Park, did some prescribed activities, hiked back and consequently earned a special patch (Scouts will do anything for a patch!).
The fourth Kings Mountain has us heading back to North Carolina for the city of Kings Mountain named, not after the mountain, but after the battlefield. The city of Kings Mountain is considered the furthest west part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. The people living here selected this name when the city was incorporated in 1874. Today the city has a population of 10,000 and is the closest city to us. We have gone there to church and for grocery shopping.
Kings Mountain: one name referring to four places, two in South Carolina and two in North Carolina. You can visit us, but be sure you get the right one!