Scotts Hill was named for a family named Scott who lived on a hill in the vicinity of what is now the Old Scotts Hill AME Church. Apparently, the roads in the vicinity were prone to flooding and people would try to contact the Scotts to see if the roads were passable.

Today, the name Scotts Hill is applied to a community straddling the Pender/New Hanover county line along U.S. 17, between Porters Neck to the south and Browntown (named for the local Brown family) to the north. The center of the area was and still is Poplar Grove Plantation, founded by James Foy Jr. in 1795 and famous for peanut cultivation. A number of Foys and Foy descendants still live in the area. Since 1980, the plantation has been open to the public as an historical attraction, educational facility and host to many wonderful weekly and annual events.

President George Washington in 1791 and President James Monroe in 1819 passed through and “paused” in Scotts Hill on their way to Wilmington as many travelers do today.