Honea Path 

Some people say that Honea Path got its name from the Cherokee.  Honea sounded like their word for path and because they repeated words twice for emphasis, the name became Honea Path, two words that mean path.  The town’s textile mill, the Chiquola, was the scene of tragic violence in 1934 when workers joined nearly 200,000 other textile workers across the South in the General Textile Strike.  Seven strikers lost their lives.

Belton

The Belton area began to develop after the Revolutionary War as an agrarian community.  In the mid-1800s, a railroad was built through the region.  Cotton was ginned in Belton and later the Belton Mill and the Blair Mill opened in the community.

Williamston

Unlike many Anderson County towns that were established around  agriculture, Williamston was established because of its mineral spring.  The town’s original name was Mineral Spring; later the name changed to Williamston to honor West Allen Williams who discovered the spring.  The town became known as a health resort.  It was also known for Williamston Female College that was later moved to Greenwood and became Lander College.

Pelzer

The town of Pelzer came into being as the Pelzer Manufacturing Company was built on the banks of the Saluda River.  The company grew to four mills.  Mill #4, built in 1895, was the largest mill under one roof in the United States at that time.  Like the Anderson Cotton Mill in Anderson, Mill#4 was powered by electricity that traveled a distance over wires.  The Santa Caps and sequins represent the highly decorated homes on Ager Street and the “Light People.”

West Pelzer

The town was originally named Frankville for John Franks, the town’s surveyor.  Located just west of Pelzer, the town became a commercial center for area residents.

Pendleton

Pendleton was founded in 1790 as a courthouse town for the Pendleton  District, an area that today is comprised of Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties.  Early residents were often of Scotch-Irish descent, settlers who had traveled south from PA and VA following the Philadelphia Great Wagon Road.  Other early residents came from Charleston to establish summer homes away from the city’s heat and malaria.  The Farmers’ Society was organized to encourage scientific farming.  Farmers’ Society Hall was completed in 1828 on the town’s public square.  The Upstate’s first textile mill was built in Pendleton in 1836 and named the Pendleton Manufacturing Company.

Starr

The area surrounding Starr was settled before it became a town.  Farmers  moved to the area growing corn, wheat and cotton.  In 1838 the town of Twiggs was established; fifty years later the name was changed to Starr.  The Generostee Cotton Oil Mill was built in the early 1900s.

Iva

Iva also had two names.  The town was originally named Cook’s Station  in honor of the town’s physician.  When it was discovered there were two Cook’s Stations in SC, the town was renamed Iva to honor Dr. Cook’s daughter.  Like Starr, the town grew in importance when the Savannah Valley Railroad passed through the town making it an important shipping locality.  Iva became a textile town with the opening of Jackson Mills in 1906.  Jackson Mills closed in December 1995.

Anderson

Established in 1826 as Anderson Courthouse, the town was the seat of government for the new Anderson County.  Both town and county were named for Robert Anderson, a local hero in the American Revolution.  Anderson became the commercial center of the county and a spur of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, built in 1853, brought business and visitors to the town.  Anderson earned the nickname ‘Electric City’ due to native William Church Whitner’s experimentation with electricity.  His successful transmission of electricity over wires not only earned the town its nickname, but his accomplishment is also credited with bringing industrialization to the South.  Early uses of electricity included:  power for the Anderson Cotton Mills, lamps around the public square, residential use, and a streetcar system that served the city’s mills and Buena Vista Park