Greenville

Formed March 22, 1786 (22^nd county)

Greenville County (451,225), Greenville (58,409)                

The brown brick and masonry courthouse was built in 1950 to replace the 1918 facility.  The courthouse is on Buncombe Street between Spring and Church streets.  United States Highway 29 is Church Street in this part of the city.  The McPherson Company are the designers of this Modern Greek Revival courthouse.  The building was enlarged in 1958 and 1997.  The facility features columns.  The county was established on March 22, 1786 as the 22^nd county with Greenville as the only county seat.  Greenville County and its county seat are named for American Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene.  Greenville County is the birthplace for 2 South Carolina Governors, Richard W. Riley and Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. 

Greenville County government consists of a sheriff and 12 Council Members.  Four Circuit Court Judges and Five Family Court Judges serve Greenville and Pickens counties.  The county is on the northern border with North Carolina.  Columbia, South Carolina is southeast and Charlotte, North Carolina is northeast of the county.  The county center is in Greenville 4.1 miles Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by North Carolina and Spartanburg, Laurens, Abbeville, Anderson, and Pickens counties. 

The area of the county is 795 square miles.  It is 13 out of 46 in the state.  It ranks 1 out of 46 in population in the state.  It has a density of 567.58 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 46 in the state.  Greenville County has 28.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 crosses the county east to west from Spartanburg County to Pickens County.  Interstate Highway 385 originates and heads southeast into Laurens County.  United States Highway 25 comes in from North Carolina and goes south into Laurens County.  United States Highway 29 parallels Interstate Highway 85 from Spartanburg to Pickens counties.  United States Highway 123 originates and goes west into Pickens County.  United States Highway 176 comes from North Carolina and goes east into Spartanburg County.  United States Highway 276 enters from North Carolina and terminates.  Greenville County looks like a man’s sock.  The City of Greenville is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Greenville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 12.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.