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Two restaurants set to open early next year in downtown Clover will continue a recent trend, both in the town and beyond. People, and businesses, are gathering in the center.

“We just needed for things to start happening,” said town Main Street director Alicia Griffith, “and then it was the domino effect.”

Nine new businesses have opened in downtown Clover since the start of last year. Now building permits are issued for two restaurants, The Cattle Car and King of Fire. Cattle Car will take the former Water Tank space at 111 N. Main St. King of Fire will go where a jewelry store was, at 115 and 117 N. Main.

Cattle Car bills itself as a neighborhood burger joint combining “old school vibes and new school flavor” on social media, which includes construction updates. Burgers and fancy adult beverages, including a full bar, are planned, Griffith said.

King of Fire is a Charlotte-area pizza food truck that started in 2018. The first restaurant opened earlier this year in Charlotte. Award-winning pizza maker Siler Chapman has worked in the Rock Hill region for more than a decade, including prior restaurants in addition to the food truck.

Along with setting up the Main Street program Griffith runs, the town set up incentive and grant programs to help revitalize downtown. Lots of momentum the past year, though, comes as businesses see one after another local shop succeed, she said.

“I honestly think that people are getting excited about the small changes that the town has going on,” Griffith said. “They see small, forward progress in the area.”

Brick & Mortar, a coffee shop with sandwiches that just expanded its hours at 109 N. Main, will soon celebrate a year since it opened. The Clover Harvest restaurant celebrated its first anniversary this spring at 1007 Old North Main St. Other recent additions include the Bull Pin sports bar and arcade at 113 N. Main, the Wiggle My Worm bait and tackle shop on Bethel Street and Coastal Cottage shop on Kings Mountain Street.

There’s also a resale shop benefiting a nonprofit, a skate shop and a hair salon. A new chiropractor and party supply office aren’t far, Griffith said. She gets feedback routinely from people interested in starting businesses, from yoga places to dog care.

“Just plenty of interest,” Griffith said.

Reardon McFalls Enterprises in Clover bought two downtown properties last fall that include four addresses. Reardon McFalls bought the buildings where both Cattle Car and King of Fire will go. There are 33 properties within 1,500 feet of the Cattle Car site that have sold since the start of last year, according to York County land records. About half of them front Main Street, while several more front Kings Mountain Street.

Clover is hardly alone in its refocus on downtown.

For years, Fort Mill’s downtown food scene wasn’t much. It’s now grown to half a dozen restaurants just on Main Street. There’s pizza, barbecue, burgers, sushi and Southern fare. Newer spots including FM Eatery and Centre Theatre Pizza & Ice Cream are joined by spillover places just off Main like Bossy Beulah’s, Illumination Wines, Hot Dog Depot and The Speckled Pear.

Rock Hill has a longer history of food on its Main Street, but more spots keep coming. Ay Papi, Kounter and Rock Taco have arrived over the past few years. There’s a new lounge concept at Kounter coming. Signs are up now for dessert spot Vampire Penguin.

York has a downtown hotel planned that city officials there believe will transform the area. Tega Cay, the newest city in York County, is in the process of connecting its two distinct areas via a new “Main Street”-style development.

Griffith, a downtown shop owner herself, is pleased with Clover’s progress but also sees untapped growth potential.

“We still have more spaces available,” she said.

This story was originally published November 11, 2024, 12:00 AM.

The Herald

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John Marks graduated from Furman University in 2004 and joined the Herald in 2005. He covers community growth, municipalities, transportation and education mainly in York County and Lancaster County. The Fort Mill native earned dozens of South Carolina Press Association awards and multiple McClatchy President’s Awards for news coverage in Fort Mill and Lake Wylie.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The 2024 general election is quickly approaching, but South Carolina voters will not have to wait until Election Day to cast a ballot.

Governor Henry McMaster signed a law in May 2022 that replaces in-person absentee voting with an early in-person voting period for the two weeks leading up to election days.

Any registered voter, including those who will be 18 years old by the Nov. 5 general election, can cast a ballot during the early voting period without an excuse.

“Early voting provides a convenient and secure way for you to cast your ballot,” said Howie Knapp, the executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission. “Find an early voting center in your county, vote just like you would at your polling place on Election Day, and have your voice heard.”

Early voting for the 2024 election begins on Monday, October 21, and ends on Saturday, Nov. 2.

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Here’s what voters need to know:

The ballot will include seven candidates for president, according to officials:

An eighth candidate — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — was initially nominated by the South Carolina Alliance Party. However, party leaders withdrew him from the ballot in August after he suspended his presidential campaign.

Additionally, each of South Carolina’s seven U.S. House of Representatives seats is up for election.

All 170 seats in the South Carolina state legislature — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are also up for grabs this year. Some are uncontested, however.

Some ballots will also include races for county sheriff, circuit solicitor, probate judge, coroner, school board, and other countywide and local races.

Voters can find out who is on the ballot where they live by obtaining a sample ballot from the South Carolina Election Commission.

South Carolina adopted new state legislative district maps in December 2021 following the 2020 U.S. Census. Some district lines were redrawn, new districts were created, and some districts were eliminated.

Voters can find out which district they live in on the South Carolina legislature’s website.

Each county in South Carolina is required to have at least one polling location open for early voting. Some larger counties may have multiple open locations while smaller counties may have just one early voting site.

Early voting centers are open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the early voting period. Early voting is not available on Sunday, Oct. 27.

Here are the early voting locations* in the Lowcountry, by county:

Chester County

Chesterfield County

Lancaster County

York County

You can find the complete list of early voting locations in every South Carolina county here.

Editor’s Note: The list of early voting centers may be updated as additional information becomes available.

A valid photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina elections, including during the early voting period. Acceptable forms of identification include:

State law requires an individual to register to vote at least 30 days before an election.

The deadline to register for the 2024 election is Monday, Oct. 14.

There are several ways you can register to vote in South Carolina:

1 – South Carolinians can register online by visiting scvotes.gov before midnight on Oct. 14. You will need your South Carolina Driver’s License or DMV ID card.

2 – Download a voter registration form from scvotes.gov. Complete and return the form to your county voter registration office either by fax or email before midnight on Oct. 14, or by mail – but it must be postmarked by Oct. 14.

3 – Register in person at your county voter registration office. Remember: most offices close at 5 p.m. for in-office registration.

Voters can check their registration status by visiting scvotes.gov.