Big Changes
City of Inman revitalization led by first African American mayor n story by ARIEL TURNER | photo by WILL CROOKS
CORNELIUS HUFF Mayor of Inman 8
UBJ | 2.15.2019
At 16 or 17 years old Cornelius Huff remembers being told there’d never be a black person in leadership in his city.
Inman Mayor Cornelius Huff grew up in the small Spartanburg County mill town during a time when skin color determined whether he could use the front door or the back alley entrance of a downtown business. As an African-American, walking down Main Street also wasn’t an option. At 16 or 17 years old Huff remembers being told there’d never be a black person in leadership in his city. “That was a statement that was made and that stuck with me,” Huff says. All of that has since changed. Huff not only became Inman’s first African-American City Council member, but after 12 years in that role was sworn in as mayor in July 2014. Huff is also proud to say the city recently hired its first woman in an administrative role – Missy House, former representative for Trey Gowdy for 14 years who is now in her third week as city administrator. The city is undergoing enormous physical revitalization under Huff’s leadership, including the revamp of Leroy Mathis Park, the Inman Mills multifamily project with the new Mill to Main greenway initiative, streetscaping, library renovations, and numerous vacant downtown storefronts ready for restaurant and retail tenants. House’s economic development experience will be a key factor in furthering and completing these in-progress efforts. Huff says his late father, who served in the United States Army in Korea and eventually settled in Inman after meeting his wife there at a tent revival service, used to preach to him about initiating changes in his life. “He said, ‘Son, in order to make a change in your life you have to get yourself in position to make the change,’” Huff recalls. “You got to put yourself in the position that can actually make the change.” Huff says his father pounded that message into his head. “He saw something that I didn't know about me,”
