Owings is named for Francis Rapley Owings (1840-1920), who lived in this house after the Civil War. His ancestor Richard Owings III had settled 2 mi. west in 1757. A farmer and merchant, Francis R. Owings built the general store across the road in 1873, and it also housed the town’s first post office. The town was originally named Rapley because there was already one in South Carolina named Owings. After Francis Rapley Owings donated the land and lumber for a depot there, it was renamed Owings Station. He also helped found the Bank of Owings and served as its vice president. The bank, built in 1914, is one of several commercial buildings there built with locally made bricks.