The Anson County, North Carolina town of McFarlan was named for Allan McFarland, president of the Cheraw & Salisbury Railroad. The town was incorporated in 1885. The 1900 Census dropped the 'd'.

The Cheraw & Darlington Railroad was chartered in 1849 and opened in 1853, running from Florence north via Darlington to Cheraw in South Carolina. The Cheraw & Darlington Railroad acquired the Cheraw & Salisbury Railroad, an extension north to Wadesboro, North Carolina, in 1892.

From the 1st Annual Report of the North Carolina Railroad Commission, dated December 31, 1891:

Chartered in 1857 for a term of 99 years, by Act ratified the 2d day of February, 1857. The Cheraw & Salisbury Railroad Company was organized in December, 1857, under laws of South Carolina and North Carolina; amended December, 1861, and December, 1868; name changed by latter amendment; originally Cheraw & Coal Fields Rail Road.

Road opened in 1880.

By Act ratified 16th day of December, 1868, changing the name of said corporation, it was allowed five years from said 16th day of December, 1868, to complete its road to the crossing of the Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford Railroad (now the Carolina Central), and five additional years thereto to complete the extension authorized by said Act, to such point on the North Carolina Railroad at or near Salisbury as might be selected by said Company.

The Ordinance of the State Convention, ratified the 10th day of March, 1862, provided that the Cheraw & Coal Fields Railroad Company should complete its road to the Coal Fields, in Chatham
County, within five years after the close of the war, or forfeit its charter.

Towns on Route (in NC):

Wadesboro

Paris (1869)

Morven

Sneedsborough (1874) > McFarlan (1883)

NC/SC State Line