Yoda and Darth Maul have a special place in this NC town. It’s not what you think
The town of Grover has a population of 708 and two streets named after “Star Wars” characters in just over one square mile straddling the North Carolina-South Carolina border.
Yes, that’s right: two.
Running parallel to each other seemingly on the outskirts of town, the streets are not, at first glance, anything impressive.
Darth Maul Drive is a slim 710 feet long, or .13 miles — the baby brother to Yoda Drive, which stretches a little further to 843 feet, or .15 miles. They’re surrounded by forest and farmland, but for a few lucky people who get to call them home.
According to the recorded plats for both streets provided by the Cleveland County Planning Department to the North Carolina Museum of History, there were approximately 28 plots of land planned for them. Grover is nestled in the lower southeast corner of Cleveland County.
In a town of only 708 people as of 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that’s roughly 3.9 percent of Grover’s population that get to live on “Star Wars”-themed streets.
So how did they come to be?
Yoda the Jedi Grand Master was first introduced in 1980 when George Lucas brought us “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.”
Speaking in odd vernacular frequently accompanied by “hmmm,” he didn’t appear on the street signs of Grover until January 5, 2001, according to the history museum.
Darth Maul Drive was signed into being a few years earlier on May 18, 1999 — “only one day before “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace” premiered in theaters on May 19, 1999, and introduced the popular character,” the museum states.
For those less familiar with the “Star Wars” universe, Darth Maul is the Sith Lord perhaps best known for being red with a slew of horns sticking out of his head.
The official “Star Wars” site describes him as “a formidable warrior and scheming mastermind” who “wielded an intimidating double-bladed lightsaber and fought with a menacing ferocity.”
According to the museum, the plats on which Yoda Drive and Darth Maul Drive both sit are owned by someone named Brenda Anderson.
Anderson proved untraceable for the museum. But it did talk to Stori McIntyre, assistant director of Cleveland County’s Communications Department.
She evidently had no idea the street names were “Star Wars”-related.
“I have never watched a single ‘Star Wars,’” McIntyre said, according to the museum. “Grover is a small town. Most of those roads were named after local people, most likely.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Yoda and Darth Maul have a special place in this NC town. It’s not what you think."
