The post-Civil War period brought Greenville new challenges and a change in social and economic prosperity. The town of Greenville quickly recovered from the anguish of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In and , the Camperdown Mill was built in Greenville for weaving cotton. Click Here to learn about the "Street Railways" that operated in Greenville from to After several years of demonstrative success, these experimental mills proved that Greenville could produce quality cloth with its good water supply and cheap labor.
Other companies followed suit and by eight cotton mills were operating in Greenville County, the earliest being established in on the Enoree River.
By , this number had increased to fourteen and the mills brought prosperity and stability to Greenville. Greenville evolved into a small city as new businesses were established in the downtown area. Greenville, SC - Main Street - The Huguenot Mill complex above the falls was a large area containing two to three story masonry structures with Romanesque and Italianate architectural elements.
Another important mill complex within the city was Mills Mill, which began operation in and was built in the Romanesque Revival style. Other notable buildings constructed at the turn of the century were the American Cigar Factory, a large four-story vernacular structure, and the Steam Power Plant, also a vernacular masonry structure.
The Cigar Factory will soon be rehabilitated for offices and street-level shopping. The increase in wealth and the establishment of a streetcar system formed new residential neighborhoods. The Hampton-Pinckney residential area is the earliest intact neighborhood in Greenville. After the Hampton-Pinckney area was settled, another residential tract was being planned and developed along Pettigru Street.
Originally known as the "Boyce Lawn property" and located between East North Street and East Washington Street, this land was divided into smaller lots. The streets joining the lots were named after faculty members of the Furman Theological Seminary. Several other residential neighborhoods evolved during these years. Greenville City Hall in the s. Included in the project was construction of a foot-long, foot-wide, curved suspension bridge that was designed by world-renowned architect Miguel Rosales to provide dramatic views of the upper falls and the gardens below.
Additional designs called for a new park building with two levels of plazas, a private restaurant, public restrooms and the garden's maintenance facility to be located on the South Main Street end of the bridge. Most of modern day Greenville was hunting land used by the Cherokee Indians, whose main villages were located in what is now Oconee County.
A part of the Iroquoian Nation, the Cherokees may have set up temporary summer camps along the banks of the Reedy River. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Indian artifacts were found along the north bank of the river. European settlers were forbidden to live here until , when the Cherokee were forced to cede their land to the new state. Referred to as the "the cradle of Greenville," it was the magnificent, life-giving falls of the Reedy River that led the first settlers to this region.
In , Richard Pearis , who was married to a Cherokee Indian, established a trading post and grist mill at the base of the falls. In , Pearis bought 50, acres — including the falls - from his son, who was considered a member of the Cherokee Nation. At the time, it was unlawful for a white man to purchase land from the Indians, so this allowed Pearis to get around the system.
Pearis eventually sided with the British during the American Revolution. When he returned to Greenville, his business and family were gone. Following Pearis , Lemuel Alston built a small tub mill on the site of Pearis ' mill. With the addition of more businesses and schools — such as Furman University in , the Greenville and Columbia Railroad in , and the Gower, Cox and Markley Coach Factory also founded in the mid-ineteenth century — the town evolved into a large city.
This crisis was compounded by the stock market crash of and subsequent Great Depression. Following World War II, four major highways were developed, suburban areas were established, and students continued to flock to highly-regarded Furman University , which moved to its current location after beginning construction on the larger campus in This depot, built in , once served Southern Railway, which was one of the largest railroads in the South. The depot stood at the end of West Washington Street in downtown Greenville.
The depot was demolished in The Rock Quarry Garden, seen in the two images below, is another local favorite. The garden is part of Cleveland Park, a acre nature and sports complex in downtown Greenville. It too is located along the Reedy River. Falls Park 0 mile Liberty Bridge 0.
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