Doug Echols Our Mayor

Getting to know Doug Echols -

Doug Echols has played an active role in the Rock Hill community since he and his wife, Sylvia, moved here in 1971.

In addition to serving as mayor since 1997, Doug served two four-year terms on City Council. He's also chaired the Come See Me Festival, United Way fundraising, Joint Ventures for Affordable Housing Committee and Rock Hill Clean and Green. He was first athletic director and football coach at Northwestern High School and associate athletic director for Winthrop in the 1980s. In l989 Doug became the first commissioner of the South Atlantic Conference headquartered in Rock Hill, retiring from that position in 2008. The nine-member athletic organization includes NCAA Division II colleges in three states.

		Doug and Sylvia Echols and their family - son Chad and wife, Anna, left, with son, Guy, and daughter, Sara, and husband, Mike Bridges, with son Benjamin

Doug is a past president of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, an organization representing the state's 270 cities and towns, and is a member of the board of directors of the National League of Cities. Doug is a graduate of Mars Hill College and has graduate degrees from Western Carolina and Winthrop universities. Sylvia Echols is a public school principal and children's advocate. The Echols are members of St. John's United Methodist Church. Their children are Chad, a Rock Hill attorney, and Sara, a hospice social worker in Winston-Salem, NC.