Alston planned to call his development Pleasantburg. In Alston sold his lots to North Carolinian Vardry McBee, who developed a village around the river which included schools, churches, grist mills, saw mills, and a general store. At that point, downtown Greenville became a commercial hub. 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. Greenville's economy was initially centered on agriculture and small manufacturing, but in the s, Greenville emerged as a center of higher education with Furman University making its debut downtown in The completion of the railroad line from Columbia, SC transformed the town.
Having escaped most of the destruction during the Civil War, Greenville's first textile mill was built in By , Greenville had become a cotton town. In the early s, Alester Furman and other businessmen worked to pave streets, upgrade parks and establish the first hospital and library. Things were humming right along until the Great Depression brought Greenville's economy to a standstill in , and local mills experienced massive layoffs. In the s and s, Daniel, along with Governor Fritz Hollings and State Economic Development Coordinator Francis Hipp, helped lure Northern companies to the Upcountry with promises of a strong, reliable workforce.
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. In , Vardry McBee bought more than 11, acres from Alston, including most of present-day Greenville, and built two flour mills — one in and one in McBee was a philanthropist and gave the land for the town's first schools, colleges and churches.
In the 19th century, a variety of industries eventually clustered along the Reedy River. Those industries included an ironworks, the Gower, Cox, and Markley Coach Factory, a sawmill, a paper factory, an armory, as well as grist and corn mills.
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