Greenville Textile Heritage Park receives Palmetto Pride grant

Greenville Textile Heritage Park got a recent boost with a $5,000 Palmetto Pride grant that will help keep the area clean as use of the park increases.

“The Textile Heritage Park is beginning to be discovered by residents and visitors alike. As its use continues to grow and improvements continue to be made, we want to make the experience more enjoyable for visitors and environmentally friendly for the park and surrounding community,” said Steven Bryant, board chairman at Greenville Revitalization Corporation (GRC), the park developer.

The Palmetto Pride grant will fund the purchase and installation of new trash receptacles along the Mill Walk Trail and by the Children’s Playground at the park located in Greenville’s Monaghan community.

GRC has partnered with the Greenville Textile Heritage Society, an organization comprised of mill alumni and associates, to develop a six-acre site across from the former Monaghan Mill on Smythe Street in Greenville into a place that pays tribute to the legacy of the area’s Textile Crescent. In the 1920s, the property was known as Central Park where parades, pageants and dinners on the ground were held. Years later, it was paved to become a parking lot for Monaghan Mill workers.

Once completed, the park will be the only location in the Upstate with a comprehensive history of the textile industry and the people who made Greenville County the Textile Capital of the World for more than 100 years, according to GRC CEO Doug Dent.

To date, a children’s playground, a parking lot and the Mill Walk, a walking trail with 13 alcoves dedicated to the history of 12 mills along the Textile Crescent and Parker High School, have been completed. The park also will include a museum, community garden, an outdoor classroom and wildflower garden, and a large open lawn.