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B−History
History · Greer

Greer dates to 1876, and 11 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #68 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it

Most of Greer was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. 11 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 44 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1880.

1876founded
11on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greer’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greer began

When was Greer founded?

1876

Greer dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 97 in 18802020 census: 35,308150 years

How historic is Greer?

B−

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greer’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greer is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #68 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greer’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.0% of homes (±1.2) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register11 listings, 60 historic buildings, 14.4 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 60%

South Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Carolina town has 3.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Greer’s 14.4 sits above most of its state (68% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 60 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1876.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Greer’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Greer, and 10 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe Greer Downtown Historic District takes in 40 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register11 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersJulian Mayfield, Kaleigh Kurtz and 9 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Greer’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Greer Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greer Depot
1873–1901
Greer
1901–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burgiss HillsKing AcresKingsMapleMaplewoodMount Vernon EstatesTygerVictor HeightsVictor MillsWade Hampton Heights
Gone or out of use
Central SchoolschoolChestview ChurchchurchHall ChurchchurchLiberty Hill SchoolschoolMaple Hill SchoolschoolNew Hope Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greer
Greer CityHighlandHillcrest Memorial GardensMountain ViewNeedmore CommunityNew Hope Baptist ChurchRectorWood Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

11 listings protect 60 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
11
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
60
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Gilreath's Mill
Gilreath's Mill, built 1839Arthur Barnwell House, built 1900Greer Depot, built 1913Louie James HouseDavenport HouseR. Perry Turner HouseRobert G. Turner HouseEarle R. Taylor House and Peach Packing ShedApalache Mill, built 1888Greer Downtown Historic DistrictGreer Mill
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival4
Queen Anne1
Tudor Revival1
Gilreath's MillBuilt 1839
Arthur Barnwell HouseQueen Anne · Built 1900
Greer DepotBuilt 1913
Louie James HouseColonial Revival
Davenport HouseTudor Revival
R. Perry Turner HouseColonial Revival
Robert G. Turner HouseColonial Revival
Earle R. Taylor House and Peach Packing ShedColonial Revival
All 11 listings
Apalache MillDistrict · listed 2015Greer Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2019Greer MillDistrict · listed 2022

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Greer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greer.

Read it all →

Greer was named for James Manning Greer, who was Scottish. Many of his descendants still reside in the region. James Manning Greer was a descendant of John Greer Sr., who surveyed his land in Laurens County in 1750. John and his family were already in Laurens County, prior to the Greer passengers who arrived aboard the ship The Falls in 1764. John, Sr.'s great-grandson, James Manning Greer, settled his family near Greenville in an area that eventually became known as Greer's Station.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greer, 1839 to 1998

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839BuiltGilreath's Mill is built
  3. 1873Post officeThe Greer Depot post office opens
  4. 1876
    FoundingGreer is established
  5. 1888BuiltApalache Mill is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900BuiltArthur Barnwell House is built
  8. 1901Post officeThe Greer Depot post office closes
  9. 1901Post officeThe Greer post office opens
  10. 1907In the archiveGreer - Central Square
  11. 1913BuiltGreer Depot is built
  12. 1915In the archiveGreer - Library Building, Victor Mill
  13. 1928Born hereJulian Mayfield is born here
  14. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  15. 1973Born hereAshley Trantham is born here
  16. 1994Born hereKaleigh Kurtz is born here
  17. 1998Born hereTroy Pride Jr. is born here
By decade

Greer, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Greer - Central Square1907Greer - Central SquarePostcardGreer - Emma Street, showing Baptist Churchc. 1908Greer - Emma Street, showing Baptist ChurchPostcardGreer - Street scenec. 1908Greer - Street scenePostcardGreer - Franklin Mill1909Greer - Franklin MillPostcardGreer - Overview1909Greer - OverviewPostcard
1910s6 items
Greer - Library Building, Victor Millc. 1915Greer - Library Building, Victor MillPostcardGreer - Methodist Churchc. 1915Greer - Methodist ChurchPostcardGreer - Superintendent Residence, Victor Millc. 1915Greer - Superintendent Residence, Victor MillPostcardGreer - Victor Mill 02c. 1915Greer - Victor Mill 02PostcardGreer - Victor Mill 03c. 1915Greer - Victor Mill 03PostcardGreer - Victor Millc. 1915Greer - Victor MillPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Greer on the map, 1938 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Greer on the 1938 USGS mapGreer on the 1957 USGS mapGreer on the 1983 USGS mapGreer on the 1994 USGS map1938Greer sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Greer.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Greer - Central Square
Retake this viewGreer - Central Square, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Greer’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Greer, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,0001880190019201940196019802000202035,308

Grew from 97 people in 1880 to 35,308 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greer’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Greer

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Julian MayfieldAfrican-American actor, writer and director · b. 1928
Kaleigh KurtzAmerican soccer player · b. 1994
Troy Pride Jr.American football cornerback · b. 1998
A
Ashley TranthamAmerican politician · b. 1973
D
David BennettAmerican football coach · b. 1961
G
Grady HowardAmerican mayor · b. 1911
Help out

Finish Greer’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGreer - Central Square: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

DuncanIts storyC−Taylors2 historic placesC+

Questions about Greer’s history

What year was Greer founded?

In 1876, according to Wikidata. Greer’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1880 counted 97 people here.

How does Greer rank for history?

Greer is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #68 of 169 in South Carolina. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Greer?

11 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Gilreath's Mill (listed 1976, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Apalache Mill, the Greer Downtown Historic District and the Greer Mill, with 44 contributing buildings. 60 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Greer?

4% of Greer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2003.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.