Greenville County Library System - Pelham Road Branch

Branch History:

Before the American Revolutionary War, everything west of the present Spartanburg County line belonged to the Cherokees by treaty.  However, two enterprising and less than scrupulous businessmen, Richard Pearis and Jacob Hite, obtained title to thousands of acres in Greenville County from the native occupants.  They began building their own farms and selling land to other settlers.  Pearis, the fortunate one, gave his name to Paris Mountain.  Hite, who owned some 61,000 acres in the eastern part of the county, was savagely murdered along with his family when the Cherokees attacked in 1776 and as a result, is largely forgotten.

The early settlers of eastern Greenville established farms and mills, especially along the Tyger and Enoree Rivers.  Some of this farmland still belongs to their descendants.  When Dr. Burwell Chick built nearby Chick Springs Resort in 1840, they were able to sell their produce locally to Charleston residents who spent their summers in the upcountry.  For those indisposed to farming, several textile mills came to provide employment, most notably Batesville and Pelham in the 1800s and Southern Bleachery in the twentieth century.  Today the fields of crops have given way to housing subdivisions and department stores.  The Eastside is a rapidly developing region of business activity and attractive homes, with no end in sight.