Scotts Hill is a community that straddles the Pender/New Hanover County line. It is named for the Scott family who lived on a hill in the vicinity of what is now the Old Scotts Hill AME Church. People would try to contact the Scott family to see if the roads were passable because around the area were prone to flooding, and so the area became Scotts Hill. In 1791 President George Washington passed through Scotts Hill and in 1819 President James Monroe passed through, both“pausing” on their way to Wilmington as many travelers do.
The center of the area was and still is Poplar Grove Plantation, founded by James Foy Jr. in 1795 and was famous for it’s peanut farm. Though a number of Foy’s and Foy descendants still live in the area, the plantation no longer produces peanuts. Since 1980 the plantation has been open to the public as a historical attraction, educational facility, and hosts many wonderful weekly and annual events.
