Mule Appaloosa

Long before Red Springs was incorporated in 1887 and its postal name changed from its former name of Dora in 1884, one of the first settlers in this community was "Sailor Hector" McNeill. It is not known exactly how he got his nickname, but he is found using it in the Bladen County tax lists of 1771. (Red Springs is in Robeson County which was formed from Bladen County in 1787.) "Sailor Hector" McNeill's home was at the top of the hill on the edge of the McNeill cemetery in town, and he and his wife Mary are buried there in unmarked graves. In the decades before the Civil War up into the early 20th century the community was known as "The Springs", and it became a popular spa and resort in the mid-19th century. People of that time came from all parts to sample the sweet, iron-rich water and stay at the hotel there, built before 1854 by Malcolm C.