First Posted: 5/17/2013

Maxton has gone through many name changes since its incorporation as Shoe Hill in 1874. For a while it was Tilden, named after an 1876 Democratic candidate for U.S. president, then it was Quhele before changing back to Shoe Hill in 1881. In 1887, town commissioners Capt. William Black and William Jackson Currie suggested “Mack’s Town,” to honor the area’s Scottish settlers. The idea caught on and the name was shortened to Maxton.

In 1912, the Carolina College for Women was opened by the Methodists, but closed in 1926 when Duke College began accepting women. In 1928, the campus was reopened as the Presbyterian Junior College, which lasted until 1962, when it merged with Flora McDonald College to form St. Andrews Presbyterian College and moved to Laurinburg. The old campus was used for the next 10 years for the Carolina Military Academy.

The area was home of the Laurinburg-Maxton Airbase, established in 1942 at a cost of more than $10 million, and with more than 5,000 acres. It was the second largest Glider Training Base in the world and played an important role in World War II, serving as a staging area for campaigns in Burma, Africa, Sicily and Normandy’s D-Day. The number of men training at any time was 17,000. The base was officially closed July 13, 1946.

Maxtonians of note include: Gov. Angus W. McLean (1924-1928); Malcom McLean, father of containerized shipping and named “Man of the Century” by the International Maritime Hall of Fame; and Alice Russell Micheaux, a black opera singer, movie actress and producer.