60 Fun Facts About Greenville SC

Where does Greenville rank among South Carolina's cities by population, according to the 2020 census?

The city itself has just over 70,000 people, but its metro area, at nearly a million, is the largest in the state.

Which waterway runs through the middle of downtown Greenville?

It is a tributary of the Saluda, and its falls in the West End are considered the birthplace of the city.

Before colonists arrived, the land that became Greenville was the hunting ground of which Native nation?

The Treaty of Dewitt's Corner in 1777 ceded almost all of their land, including present-day Greenville, to South Carolina.

Which local peak still carries a version of Loyalist settler Richard Pearis's name?

Pearis backed the Loyalists, so the Patriots burned his plantation and jailed him in Charleston; the mountain kept his name in a different spelling.

What was the village established in 1797 by Lemuel J. Alston called before it took the name Greenville?

Alston built a stately mansion there; Vardry McBee later bought the land in 1816 and made the mansion his home.

Who is considered the 'father of Greenville' for donating land for churches, academies and a cotton mill?

He also funded the Greenville & Columbia Railroad in 1853, and the town grew to about 1,000 people in the 1850s as a summer resort.

Which school did McBee help bring to Greenville from Winnsboro in 1851?

Founded in 1826 and named for a Baptist pastor, it is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina.

Greenville County, formed in 1786, is usually said to be named for which Revolutionary general?

It was the first county carved out of the old Ninety-Six District, and its name was originally spelled Greeneville.

By 1915, Greenville's cotton mills had earned it which nickname?

From 1915 to 2004 the city hosted the Southern Textile Exposition, a major industry trade fair.

At its peak, roughly how many textile mills operated in and around Greenville?

That concentration is why the city styled itself 'The Textile Capital of the World' for much of the 20th century.

The Mansion House was demolished in 1925 and replaced by which downtown hotel?

Renovated in the late 1990s with Poinsett Plaza at its entrance, it is still a Main Street landmark.

South Carolina's oldest bridge, an 1820 stone span near Greenville, may be by which Washington Monument architect?

Named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the Gothic-arched bridge over Little Gap Creek was part of the Old Buncombe Road and is now a heritage preserve.

A 1946 Greenville explosion that killed six and injured over 150 involved a tank of what?

The blast was heard in Gaffney, about 50 miles away.

Bob Jones University moved to Greenville in 1947 from which city?

The school had begun in Florida in 1927, barely survived bankruptcy in the Depression, and more than doubled in size within two years of arriving in Greenville.

Bob Jones Jr. built the university's art museum by first collecting which style, cheap and unfashionable after WWII?

The collection grew to more than 400 European paintings from the 14th through 19th centuries; one Lucas van Leyden turned out to be Nazi loot and went back to Germany.

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport opened in 1962 near which town?

Textile magnate Roger Milliken pushed the two rival cities to share one airport, and the field is also named for him.

In 2024 GSP was South Carolina's third-busiest airport, behind Charleston and which other?

It handles around 3 million passengers a year and has a FedEx package hub on its north end.

Which company was persuaded to move its North American headquarters to Greenville in 1984?

Mayor Bill Workman and the chamber of commerce made the pitch; the tire maker's arrival kicked off a wave of foreign investment in the Upstate.

BMW's 1994 plant near Spartanburg was the company's first factory outside which country?

It has since become BMW's highest-volume plant in the world, building the X3, X5, X6, X7 and XM.

How many vehicles did the BMW plant near Greenville build in 2025, the most of any BMW plant worldwide?

About 225,000 of them were exported, worth roughly $10.1 billion.

The former Donaldson Air Force Base, now a technology park, hosts production of which fighter jet?

Lockheed Martin builds it at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center, which also has an EV test track.

The Peace Center, opened in 1990, takes its name from what?

It was built on the site of three derelict factories, one of which made wagons for the Confederate Army.

Which mayonnaise brand was created in Greenville in 1917 by a woman selling sandwiches to soldiers?

It is now the third-largest mayonnaise brand in the US, uses extra egg yolks and no sugar, and is still made in nearby Mauldin.

Bon Secours Wellness Arena opened in 1998 carrying the name of which grocery chain?

The 16,000-seat arena replaced the old Memorial Auditorium and is home to the city's ECHL hockey team.

Falls Park was founded in 1967 when which group reclaimed 26 acres of old mill land?

Renovation accelerated in the late 1990s and the park was rededicated in 2004 after a $15 million overhaul.

What is structurally unusual about the Liberty Bridge in Falls Park?

The 355-foot curved span, designed by Rosales + Partners, won the Arthur G. Hayden medal for innovative design in 2005.

How long is the Liberty Bridge?

Bridges with similar engineering exist in Europe, but its curving geometry is unique.

Which structure blocked the view of the falls for four decades until it was torn down in 2002?

Its removal cleared the way for the Liberty Bridge two years later, and Falls Park went from eyesore to the city's postcard view.

Who became mayor of Greenville in December 1995?

His tenure covers the removal of the Camperdown Bridge, the Liberty Bridge, Unity Park and the opening of the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

The Swamp Rabbit Trail follows the bed of which defunct railroad?

The county bought the roadbed in 1999 with commuter rail in mind; a 2014 study estimated half a million people a year were using the trail instead.

The Swamp Rabbit Trail runs north from downtown Greenville to which town?

Its mayor called the trail 'phenomenal for the whole county, but more so for us'; local businesses reported sales up 30 to 85 percent.

The Greenville Drive's 2006 stadium replicates the dimensions of which major-league park?

Its 'Greenville Monster' in left field is 30 feet high to Fenway's 37, complete with a manual scoreboard, and there is a Pesky's Pole in right.

Which name for the team that became the Greenville Drive was vetoed by Major League Baseball?

It would have honored Shoeless Joe Jackson, but his role in the Black Sox scandal sank it; 'Drive' nods to the area's car industry.

The Greenville Drive's mascot is a frog with what name?

The Drive are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and won their first title under that name in 2017.

Shoeless Joe Jackson began his professional career in 1908 with which hometown club?

He hit .346 to lead the Carolina Association, and Connie Mack bought his contract for $900 that August.

Why is the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, next to the Drive's ballpark, at 356 Field Street?

His original home was moved to the site in 2006 and opened as a museum in 2008; he is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in the city.

Greenville's ECHL hockey team, now the Swamp Rabbits, played under what name from 2010 to 2015?

The franchise had been the Johnstown Chiefs since the ECHL's founding in 1988 before relocating south.

Which former US midfielder became Greenville Triumph SC's first head coach in 2018?

He had coached FC Cincinnati in 2016 and led the Triumph to the USL League One title in 2020.

Unity Park, opened in 2022, merged two segregated parks. Which had served Black residents?

The 60-acre park has three pedestrian bridges over the river and links to the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

Which Italian city has been Greenville's sister city since 1984?

Kortrijk in Belgium followed in 1991 and Tianjin's free-trade zone in 2002.

Which Greenville-born civil rights leader was arrested in a 1960 sit-in at the city's whites-only library?

He was home from college and joined seven others; his pastor paid their bond after the 'disorderly conduct' arrests.

Which NBA great, nicknamed 'the Big Ticket', was born in Greenville in 1976?

He played his first three high-school seasons at nearby Mauldin High before finishing in Chicago and going straight to the NBA.

Greenville-born physicist Charles Townes shared the 1964 Nobel Prize for inventing which device?

He graduated from a local university in 1935 and later helped find complex molecules in space and weigh the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Which Oscar-winning actress, later Paul Newman's wife, graduated from Greenville High?

She was born in Georgia and got her start on stage at Greenville's Little Theater.

Which singer of the Disney duets 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'A Whole New World' was born in Greenville?

His stage name came from a local bandleader who could not pronounce his French West Indian name, Peapo.

Sitting on I-85, Greenville is roughly halfway between Charlotte and which other big city?

About 100 miles to Charlotte and 145 to Atlanta, with the state capital Columbia off to the southeast.

The highest point in South Carolina lies less than 40 miles northwest of Greenville. What is it?

It sits in northern Pickens County on the North Carolina line, in the Blue Ridge foothills that give the Upstate its hills.

With 525,534 people in 2020, how does Greenville County rank among South Carolina counties by population?

Its school district is also the largest in the state.

Which Amtrak long-distance train stops in Greenville on its way between New York and New Orleans?

It links the city to Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington and Philadelphia; the old rail line north to Travelers Rest became a bike trail instead.

The 1930s CCC-built state park five miles north of Greenville centres on which 15-acre swimming spot?

The mountain's lakes were originally the city's water supply from 1890 until Table Rock Reservoir took over in 1928.

The Greenville Zoo, opened in 1960, sits inside which city green space?

It opened with mostly local animals such as bears, deer and bobcats, then added a monkey dome and 26 colobus monkeys in 1962.

Which daily newspaper, the city's first, was founded in 1874?

It was the city's first daily and remains the largest paper in the Upstate.

What was Greenville's population at the 2020 census?

The city proper stays small because South Carolina law bars it from annexing its suburbs, while the metro area approaches a million people.

In which year was Greenville incorporated?

It was established in 1797, renamed from Pleasantburg in 1821, and its charter was amended to make it a city in 1869.

In which year did Greenville adopt the council-manager form of government?

The council consists of the mayor and six members; the mayor and two members are elected at-large.

What is the name of Greenville's public bus system?

It serves much of Greenville County, including Mauldin and Simpsonville, with a connector to Clemson.

Which spring arts festival runs for three days each year in Greenville?

Euphoria is the mid-September food-and-wine event and Fall for Greenville the autumn street festival.

The Greenville Convention Center is the newest in a series of halls originally built for what?

The original Textile Hall dates to 1915 and the Southern Textile Exposition; the current 280,000-square-foot facility opened in 1964.

Which university runs the automotive research campus CU-ICAR in Greenville?

Clemson's main campus is 30 miles away, but the Swamp Rabbit Trail was extended from Cleveland Park to reach CU-ICAR.

Which nonprofit began leasing and operating Greenville Memorial Hospital in 2016?

Prisma and Bon Secours are Greenville's two main health systems; the hospital's facilities are still owned by the Greenville Health Authority.