Greenwood, a History

Founding

The town of Greenwood was founded in 1824. The town would be named after the plantation of an early settler, John McGehee, Jr. The name of the 600-acre plantation, "Green Wood" was suggested by McGehee's wife - who wanted to celebrate the verdant forest surrounding its construction. As a settlement arose around this plantation, it was this same green landscape that would later give Greenwood it's nickname of "The Emerald City". The town had no set limits until its incorporation in 1857 when the old chapel of the Presbyterian school, an all-purpose building erected by the citizens, was made the center a circle of 1 mile from the building was decided as the town limits.

Later, in 1857 the City of Greenwood would be chartered as the county seat of Greenwood County. The City would be located within the lower Piedmont region of Upstate South Carolina.

Textile

As the 19th Century approached, Greenwood County, like the South as a whole, remained firmly entrenched in agriculture dominated by the cotton plantation. Yet as textile manufacturing flourished Greenwood became a hub of this industry. The first cotton mill in Greenwood opened in 1890. Newly constructed railways would aid this growth and in 1908 James C. Self would become president of Greenwood Cotton Mill. The Greenwood Cotton Mill, later called Greenwood Mills, was one of the largest privately-held companies in the industry. At it's height of employment in 1955 the 110-year-old, family-owned, Greenwood Mills encompassed five plants and employed over 6,000. These mills would dramatically influence the economy, society, and layout of the city of Greenwood.

One of the many impacts of textile industry on Greenwood was to the rail system. In fact, during the 1930s, Greenwood would become one of South Carolina’s leading rail centers, with nine railways coursing through the heart of the city. As the importance of rail travel for daily life declined, the rail system would become less needed. In the summer of 1982 the final train was removed from the center of Main Street into Uptown Greenwood.

Greenwood is economic center of the Upper Savannah Region. Upper Savannah is comprised of Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Abbeville, Edgefield, and Saluda Counties of South Carolina. The 2006 Census estimates the regional population at 219,068.