Maxton

… town in W Robeson County on Big Shoeheel Creek. Alt. 197. Inc. 1874 as Shoe Heel; changed to Tilden in 1877 to honor Samuel J. Tilden (1814-86), Democratic nominee for president, 1876; to Quhele in 1879, probably from a form of the Gaelic word Caoile (the narrow part of a stream); to Shoe Heel in 1881, for the imagined meaning of Quhele; and to Maxton in 1886. Local tradition says that the area was long known as Mackstown because of the many people of Scottish descent living there whose names begin with Mc or Mac; it was changed to Maxton by postal authorities when the first post office was est. in 1866. An earlier post office serving the community was Cowper's Hill, est. 1811 a mi. or so E of the present town. Carolina College operated there, 1908-26, and Presbyterian Junior College, 1929-60; Carolina Military Academy is there now.