Two of Hillsboro founder John Gillespie Hill’s great-grandchildren, Lois Donaldson of Maryland and Robert Hill of Tennessee, visited Hillsboro Museums recently and left behind a centuries-old Basque doll that belonged to Agnes McDonald, the daughter of Hillsboro’s founding families.

The doll, which was made in 1885, was imported from Germany. Anges filled the doll’s legs with sawdust and made clothes for her.

“We are excited to have this doll because it is such a tangible connection to the founding of Hillsboro,” said Steve Fast, Hillsboro Museums coordinator.

While in Hillsboro, the visitors stopped at the house on Birch Street where John and Katherine Hill lived in the late 1890s. They also toured the Adobe House and Schaeffler House.

Hillsboro was founded in 1879 when John Gillespie Hill, a Scottish immigrant, bought land along the Marion and McPherson Railroad and established a town he named Hill City. By the time the plat was filed, the town’s name was changed to Hillsboro.

The main thoroughfares were Main Street, a north-south street, and Grand Avenue, which intersected it. Shops were built around this intersection.

Hillsboro now has a population of almost 2,900.