Roper

… town in N central Washington County on Kendricks Creek. Alt. 13. Settled in 1706 by Thomas Blount, who built a dam there. Upon his death, his widow married Col. Thomas Lee, who built a mill at the site; the designations "S. Lee, Saw Mills" appear on the Moseley map, 1733. The mill, which began operation in 1709, was destroyed in an explosion in 1921. The town served as county seat from 1800 to 1823 (see also Cabin Ridge Plantation). Post office est. 1802; post office name changed to Union in 1851. In 1820 the town of Duckettsville was authorized to be laid out there but never developed. Lees Mills was renamed Roper in 1889 for John L. Roper, who est. a lumber industry there, and the town was inc. in 1907.