YEAH, THAT GREENVILLE!
Greenville is more than ready to become a destination for everyone Written by Dave Mahanes / Photos by Melissa & Dave Mahanes and Visit Greenville
Melissa and I recently had a chance to visit Greenville, SC, for the first time. Just a one-hour flight from Nashville on Contour Aviation, Greenville is a beautiful mid-sized city sitting at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The city oozes Southern allure and hipster chic. It has a rich history and a significant commitment to the arts, and the ever-growing culinary scene is a food lover’s playground. Greenville was originally Cherokee hunting grounds. It wasn’t until 1770 that the first white settler arrived. Named after Nathaniel Greene, commander of the Southern forces in the Revolutionary War, Greenville was originally the Upcountry summer vacation destination for the tony Lowcountry folks from Charleston. After the Great Boston Fire of 1872, when many of their textile mills were destroyed, the first mill was built in 1876, allowing mill owners to be closer to their raw material— cotton. By the mid-20th century, much of the textile business started moving to China, and Greenville began a long and steady decline. Downtown was not a place anyone wanted to be. In the latter part of the 20th century, the town fathers started to make significant urban developments to their infrastructure to make downtown Greenville more attractive to tourists and businesses. When Michelin chose Greenville as its North American headquarters in 1986, and BMW and its suppliers arrived in
the 1990s, Greenville began its major comeback. Greenville is currently building a new convention center to attract even more attention and jobs to the area. To dig deeper into the fascinating history of Greenville, a tour of the Upcountry History Museum is highly recommended. We were also treated to a West End walking tour with John Nolan of Greenville History Tours—a published author of guides to Historic Greenville. Through his storytelling, he was able to tell us how the city has changed and what original features remain. The beauty of Greenville cannot be overstated. We stayed at the historic Westin Poinsett, which sits in the very center town square laid down when the town was first planned. Built initially as a hotel in 1925, the AAA Four-Diamond hotel was one of the first skyscrapers in Greenville. It was named for Joel Poinsett, Secretary of War under President Millard Fillmore and the man who is credited for bringing the poinsettia to the United States from Mexico. The downtown architecture is a mix of renovated old Southern charm and gleaming modern buildings. It is a very walkable city, and a leisurely walk down the beautiful shady tree-lined Main Street with its charming boutiques, shops, and restaurants is not to be missed. slmag.net
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