Greenville County Library System - Mauldin Branch

Branch History:

Captain Nathaniel Austin, the first permanent white settler in Greenville County, built a log cabin in the Mauldin area, and one of his descendants still owns a house built on the site in 1830. The community that grew up took the name Butler's Crossroads, after Willis Butler, who bought up land in the area.  A post office, grist and cotton mills, and churches soon appeared. It was not until 1910 that the state awarded the town a charter and changed its name to Mauldin in honor of the Lt. Governor.

With the boll weevil and the Depression, however, the town hit bottom, and from 1932 to 1957 its charter was inactive. Its fortunes have revived with the other towns along the Golden Strip, and industry and population growth have been enormous. Mauldin does not have a recognizable downtown area, like Fountain Inn and Simpsonville, but many descendants of its early settlers still live there. Some natives, like the actor Orlando Jones and the NBA star Kevin Garnett, have gone on to fame.