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Official Maze of The Old
Farmer's Almanac |
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The Catawba Valley Scottish Society, Inc. is a non-profit volunteer organization whose mission is to educate people about the culture, heritage and contributions of the Scots and Scots-Irish and to provide venues for recognizing and celebrating their rich legacy.
In addition to the Maze, the Society sponsors seminars, demonstrations, competitions and educational events thinly disguised as entertainment, such as the Loch Norman Highland Games and the Rural Hill Sheep Dog Trials & Classic Tractor Show, The Heavy Throwing Clinic, through which we seek to reward the efforts of those who pursue a standard of excellence in traditional Scottish arts, music and athletics.
History
Originally, Rural Hill Plantation, was the homestead of the family of Major John Davidson. It is located on a promontory near the north shore of Mountain Island Lake in Mecklenburg County.
John Davidson was born on December 15, 1735 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Robert and Isabella Ramsey Davidson, who had emigrated from Scotland . John moved to Mecklenburg County about 1760 and married Violet Wilson (1742-1818).
In the early 1780's he and his family were moving to land in Iredell County when heavy rain forced them to stop. They could not cross the swollen Catawba River safely so they made camp. After several days, they decided that they like the area so much that they would build a home on the hill and stay.
Their first home was a two-room log cabin, which over time grew to have eight. With other early settlers in the region, John & Violet Davidson prospered through their own industry and good fortune to be pioneers in an area rich in natural resources. In 1788, they built an eight room mansion at the top of the hill. Rural Hill was considered one of the finest of the Catawba River Plantation homes.
Although the mansion burned in 1886 (partial ruins remain), and the log house was lost in a fire in 1896, the view from the remaining house, built around the Colonial log kitchen, gives a unique sense of the 18th and 19th century Mecklenburg agrarian landscape.
Today Rural Hill is a 260 acre historic farm leased from Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation by the Catawba Valley Scottish Society. Under guidelines established by Mecklenburg County Parks & Rec. in their "Partners in Parks Program", the volunteers of the Society have accepted responsibility for the Maintenance and development of a Scottish Living History Center on the site.
