Greenville, South Carolina

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Greenville, South Carolina
Main Street, Greenville, SC
Main Street, Greenville, SC
Official seal of Greenville, South Carolina
Seal
Location in South Carolina
Location in South Carolina
Coordinates: 34°50′40″N, 82°23′8″W
County Greenville County
Founded 1831
Mayor Knox White
Area  
 - City 67.7 km²  (26.1 sq mi)
 - Water 0.2 km² (0.1 sq mi)  0.23%
Population  
 - City (2000) 56,002
 - Density 829.4/km²
 - Metro 1,185,534 (2005 est.)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
Website: www.greatergreenville.com

Greenville is the third largest city in the state of South Carolina. It is the county seat of Greenville CountyGR6 and the largest city in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson metropolitan area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 56,002, an urbanized area population of 302,194, with a metro population of 962,441. Greenville is the main city of "The Upstate", an 8-county region of South Carolina located between Atlanta and Charlotte. Greenville is located approximately halfway between them along Interstate I-85, and its metropolitan area is further serviced by I-385 and I-185.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Greenville's skyline from Lowndes Hill, current site of the Plantation at Pelham
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Greenville's skyline from Lowndes Hill, current site of the Plantation at Pelham

Greenville is located at 34°50′40″N, 82°23′8″W (34.844313, -82.385428)GR1, centrally located among Atlanta (120 miles southwest), Charlotte (90 miles northeast) and Columbia (90 miles southeast). This central location contributed to Greenville's selection as a railroad and FedEx airfreight hub.

Greenville is in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains and therefore contains many hills and knolls. The highest point in South Carolina, Sassafras Mountain, is nearby in the northern part of Pickens County, which adjoins Greenville County on the west. Paris Mountain, home to many of the area's television and radio stations' towers, is the second most prominent peak in the area and overlooks the downtown area from less than 7 miles away. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Greenville has a total area of 67.7 km² (26.1 mi²). 67.5 km² (26.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water.

[edit] Geology and seismology

Gold and other minerals have been mined in Greenville since the early 1800's. Rubies, amethysts, garnets, tourmalines, unakite and emeralds occur within 60 miles of the city, likely washed down from the nearby mountains. [citation needed] Granite abounds in the area and is mined in Greenville as well as in neighboring counties.[citation needed]

Greenville sits on the Brevard fault, a mostly quiet system which has nonetheless seen some quakes of up to 6.0 on the Richter scale in the past 50 years. This activity could be connected with the construction of Lake Hartwell.[citation needed] Since 1990, Greenville has experienced fewer than 15 noticeable quakes, mostly centered in the Sandy Flats area.[citation needed]

[edit] Law & Government

Main article: Government of the City of Greenville, South Carolina

The City of Greenville is governed by a mayor and city council. It is also the County seat of County Government for Greenville County.


[edit] Attractions

As the largest city in the Upstate, Greenville offers many activities and attractions. Greenville's theatres and event venues regularly host major concerts and touring theatre companies. Four independent theatres present several plays a year.


[edit] Event Venues

  • Palmetto Expo Center, the largest convention center between Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC, has more than 315,000 square feet of exhibition space and 88,000 square feet of meeting and conference space. Many trade shows, conventions, and other events are held here each year.
  • Bi-Lo Center[1], a 16,000-seat arena in downtown Greenville which hosts major concerts and sporting events each year.
  • Peace Center, a performing arts center that hosts touring Broadway shows, symphonies, concerts, and civic events. Known internationally for its excellent acoustics, the Peace Center is also home to the Carolina Ballet Theatre, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, and Greenville Chorale.
  • The Warehouse Theatre, a black box theater operating for over 32 years, is located in the Historic West End.
  • The South Carolina Governor's School For The Arts & Humanities, a state-funded residential high school for the Fine Arts and hosts many performances and exhibits put together by its student population.
  • Bob Jones Rodehever Auditorium presents weekly religious dramatizations, opera, concerts, and faculty and student recitals.
  • Furman University presents organ recitals regularly at their chapel.

[edit] Landmarks

Falls Park on the Reedy
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Falls Park on the Reedy

[edit] Annual Events

  • InnoVenture each March is designed to help Communities of Innovation around corporations, universities, and emerging companies in the Southeastern Innovation Corridor.
  • ARTISPHERE each April to showcase the arts, reflects the area's international flair and maximizes existing arts programs by providing a diverse menu of experiences that center around the arts.
Pedestrian activity on Main Street during "Fall for Greenville"
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Pedestrian activity on Main Street during "Fall for Greenville"
  • Fall for Greenville is a major festival held on the 1st weekend in October. This festival features local cuisine, live performances on several stages, and the Greenville Cycling Classic bicycle race.
  • Arts in the Park is a major arts festival that takes place in Reedy Falls Park near downtown Greenville.
  • Reedy River Run a 10K race that is held in late February or early March.
  • The Red Party an annual dance party, held at the History Museum of the Upcountry, a fundraiser for AID Upstate, an AIDS Service Organization serving Upstate South Carolina (Anderson, Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties).
  • United States Road Race Cycling Championships[2] - held in early September and brings professional cyclists to vie for the crown as the United States National Road Race Champion and Time Trial Champion.

[edit] Downtown Renewal

Greenville's tree-lined Main Street
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Greenville's tree-lined Main Street

Initially, Greenville's buildings were demolished and rebuilt fairly frequently. Greenville has one of the last Frank Lloyd Wright homes ever built.

Once the retail center of the region, Greenville's downtown district began to languish in the 1960s as shopping centers lured the retailers and customers to the suburbs. It was a dying downtown in the midst of a growing region. In response, the City started a downtown renewal project.

It initially focused on improving its image through streetscape and traffic improvements, including narrowing main street from four lanes to two lanes; installing free, angled parking, trees, Flowers and light fixtures; and creating parks and plazas throughout downtown. This began in the 1960s and later under Mayor Heller who like Governor Arnold Schwarzennegar settled in the United States from Austria.

In the 1980s, Greenville turned to laying the foundation for their downtown vision and providing an example of business potential to encourage business re-location to downtown (Greenville Commons/Hyatt Regency). The city worked with consultants to develop and implement a downtown master plan and facilitated public-private investment partnerships which resulted in the city's first luxury convention hotel on Main Street.

Through the 1990s Greenville continued to strengthen its public/private partnerships to created strong anchors throughout downtown. The city redeveloped a languishing industrial area into an arts complex that incorporated historically significant buildings. It stabilized a stagnant historic district with a mixed-use project of shops, restaurants, and offices, which in turn encouraged residential use of vacant upper stories and former church classrooms.

The National Trust Main Street Center awarded Greenville a 2003 Great American Main Street Award on May 19, 2003, during the National Trust's annual Town Meeting on Main Street conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[edit] Education

Greenville's public elementary and secondary schools are part of the Greenville County School District. Greenville is also served by a number of private and religious schools. One important landmark of education, the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, is located in Greenville overlooking the Falls Park on the Reedy.

Greenville is home to several colleges, universities, and technical schools:

Seminaries

[edit] Economy

Since the Civil War, Greenville's economy has been based largely on textile manufacturing - Greenville was once known as "The Textile Capital of the World." Low wages and favorable tax benefits have lured foreign companies to invest heavily in the area: Greenville is the North American headquarters for Michelin and BMW (who also built a major manufacturing plant just east of Greenville in the fast-growing suburb of Greer, Spartanburg County). These companies, and others such as General Electric, have contributed to the area's sustained growth. Recently, Clemson University, BMW, Timken, IBM, Microsoft, Michelin, and the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) have combined to create the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) along Interstate 85 in the City of Greenville. Also along Interstate 85, and surrounding ICAR, The Millennium Campus is a 500-plus-acre office park set to attract major corporations and headquarters. One large company currently building a new headquarters there is Hubbell Lighting, Inc., a global designer and manufacturer of residential and commercial lights. Across Interstate 85 from ICAR and The Millennium Campus, the new 1,100-acre mixed-use Verdae Development is beginning to show signs of progression on phase I. Lockheed Martin Aircraft & Logistics Center is a major aircraft maintenance facility located in Greenville at Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park, a former U.S. Air Force base, also the home of 3M, Honeywell, Stevens Aviation, and a host of other businesses and organizations.

[edit] Healthcare

Greenville is a respected medical center, with the extensive Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center being the main healthcare provider. GHSUMC is a non-profit academic medical center, and with five campuses it is one of the largest employers in the region. Bon Secours Saint Francis Hospital, Saint Francis Women's & Family Hospital, Greenville Children's Hospital, and Patewood Memorial Hospital are other prominent facilities in the city. Additionally, Greenville Shriners Hospital exclusively treats pediatric orthopaedic patients free of charge.

[edit] Transportation

Greenville is located on the Interstate 85 corridor, approximately halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte. The northern terminus of Interstate 385 is located downtown, and the area is also served by Interstate 185 and U.S. Highway 123 (Calhoun Memorial Highway). Other major highways include U.S. 25, U.S. 29 and U.S. 276.

There are several airports servicing the Greenville area. The largest in the region, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) is also the busiest in the state and is served by most major airlines. The Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU), capable of landing private jets, helicopters, and other aircraft, is the third-busiest in the state. Greenville serves as a freight hub for Federal Express, Air Canada, and British Airways.

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Greenville with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at 1120 West Washington Street. Additionally, Greenville is a part of the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, which will run from Washington, DC to Birmingham, AL.

Public transit in Greenville is handled by the Greenville Transit Authority (GTA). GTA runs a bus system that serves the Greenville area and much of Greenville County. In preparation for the future, city leaders are in the early planning stages for a comprehensive light rail transit system that will help ease the high traffic volume on interstates and roadways. Plans call for light rail to link suburban commuter stations with urban destinations, office parks, and retail centers.

[edit] Sports and Sports Teams

Spectators at a Greenville Drive game
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Spectators at a Greenville Drive game

Greenville has hosted several minor league sports teams:

  • Greenville Drive, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Drive started their first season in their new downtown ballpark on April 6, 2006.
  • Greenville Grrrowl, a minor league hockey team in the ECHL. Ceased operations in July 2006.
  • Greenville Braves, a minor league baseball team that played there from 1984 until 2004. Moved to Pearl, Mississippi for the 2005 season.
  • Greenville Groove, a minor league basketball team in the NBA D-League. Ceased operations in 2003.

There are at least 4 stadiums for football and baseball within the city and many outside with total capacities of 100,000. There are also a number of soccer fields and at least three muncipal and several private swimming pools.

Yachting and boating are also popular in Greenville. Although the city itself is landlocked, nearby Lakes Jocassee, Hartwell and others afford this activity within 30 miles of Greenville.

The Olympic Torch has passed through Greenville several times, and the city is an active participant in the Special Olympics.

[edit] The Arts

Greenville has a thriving arts community, with a number of venues to support performances. The Bi-Lo Center, constructed in 1998, brings national tours of many popular bands to downtown, and the Peace Center for the Performing Arts provides an excellent venue for orchestras and plays.

[edit] Visual Art

A number of local artists operating studios and galleries in the city, especially the West End area of downtown. Greenville also contains some notable fine arts museums:

[edit] Music

Greenville has an active music scene, with frequent live performances in the downtown area by local Jazz, Country, and Rock bands.

The city is home to a number of local orchestras, including the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and the Carolina Pops. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Greenville native Keith Lockhart, regularly performs at the Bi-Lo Center. Local universities Furman and Bob Jones offer courses in operatic singing despite the lack of a local opera group.

[edit] Dance and Theatre

The Carolina Ballet Theatre is a professional dance company which regularly presents programs at the Peace Center and elsewhere. Their major annual event is the presentation of Tschaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet. Other theatres in the area include Centre Stage, the Greenville Little Theater, and the Warehouse Theatre.

[edit] Literature

A number of notable writers have lived in downtown Greenville or nearby. Internationally known author and composer William Rowland lives in the city, as does novelist and educator Robert Powell. Renowned playwright James Rasheed lives in Greenville, and the late Poet Laureate Carl Sandburg was a frequent visitor.

[edit] Media

The Greenville News is the city's daily newspaper and also the Upstate's largest daily newspaper.

Greenville Journal: Weekly newspaper dealing with business, economic development, local events, and current issues relevant to Greenville.

Greenville Magazine: Monthly magazine which caters to Greenville middle- and upper-class lifestyle.

The Beat: Greenville's weekly alternative newspaper. Formerly the award-winning MetroBEAT, the Beat is a locally owned paper published in oversized journal format that provides coverage and opinions on local politics, arts and entertainment, and business as well as comprehensive reviews for CD's, books, and even houses of worship.

Upstate Link magazine The Upstate's young reader (20s-30s) newsweekly, which is owned by The Greenville News. The weekly publication started in early 2004 to counter The Beat. Because Link's content -- being entertainment, events and features -- stands in a much different editorial range than The Beat, their only similarities are in physical size.

Greenville is part of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson-Asheville DMA which is the nation's 36th largest television market. It is served by the following major network television affiliates:

Greenville is part of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Arbitron Metro which is the nation's 60th largest radio market with a person 12+ population of 813,700. It is served by the following major radio stations:

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 56,002 people, 24,382 households, and 12,581 families residing in the city. The population density was 829.4/km² (2,148.0/mi²). There were 27,295 housing units at an average density of 404.2/km² (1,046.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.12% White, 33.94% African American, 0.14% Native American, 1.27% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.37% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.44% of the population.

There were 24,382 households out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.7% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 40.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 13.8% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,144, and the median income for a family was $44,125. Males had a median income of $35,111 versus $25,339 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,242. About 12.2% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.7% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.

An interesting fact about Greenville as well as most other major urban areas of South Carolina is the fact that the city proper population is misleadingly small. South Carolina has experienced much population growth and while metro area totals have increased the city proper of Greenville and others has not. This is due to South Carolina's restrictive annexation policy, making it very difficult for a city to annex adjacent unincorporated land. The Urbanized Area of Greenville is a more accurate representation of the city's power and size and puts the city on par with places like Greensboro, NC and Augusta, GA which both appear larger when looking only at the city proper population.

[edit] Notable people from Greenville

Notable figures who were born in, lived in, or are otherwise associated with Greenville.

Scientists

Athletes

Musicians

Religious and Political Figures

Authors

Actors and Journalists

  • Jane Robelot, Anchored CBS This Morning from August 1996 until June 1999.
  • Frank Blair (1916-1995), anchor of NBC's Today Show from 1953 to 1975. Formerly worked at WFBC-TV (now WYFF) in Greenville.
  • William M. Campbell, named president of Discovery Networks U.S. in May 2002.
  • Tyler Florence, Food Network Chef, cookbook author.
  • Bo Griffin, Actress and television host.
  • Orlando Jones, actor.
  • Wallace Merck, television and cinema actor and engineer.
  • Joanne Woodward, Academy Award-winning actress and wife of Paul Newman.

Military Figures

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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