Rose Hill Cemetery was established in 1876 by the Piedmont Manufacturing Co., an early textile mill that began production that same year. Originally known as Piedmont Cemetery, its earliest known burial dates to 1877. From 1876 until the mill’s closure in 1977, it served as the final resting place for mill workers and their families as well as members of the broader community. The cemetery expanded in 1922 when G.W. McAbee donated three-and-a-half acres of land for burials. Oral tradition holds that it was named Rose Hill in honor of McAbee’s daughter, Rose May McAbee Norris, who died in 1922 and is buried there. Other notable burials include local newspaper editor and mill supervisor Albert Smith Rowell. In 1995 title transferred to the Rose Hill Cemetery Association, which continues to maintain the cemetery.