This Place Called Greenville
History by: Roger Krammerer
Greenville, once known as the "Queen City on the Tar," is located in the history rich heart of both Pitt County and eastern North Carolina. With its beginnings stretching back over 230 years, Greenville has survived fires, wars, Reconstruction, economic depression and more recently, urban sprawl.
It all began by 1771 when Richard Evans, a Pitt County legislator, was granted permission by the State to divide off his plantation to form a town. This town was named Martinsborough in honor of the then Royal NC Governor, Josiah Martin. Richard Evans died soon after and his widow, Susannah Evans, completed the town. The newly chartered town was laid off into 100 half-acre lots by seven appointed town commissioners who sold the lots by public auction. In 1774, the original town charter was amended and Martinsborough became the county seat of Pitt County.
Martinsborough remained a small river village until the Revolution. On January 8, 1787, by act of the NC General Assembly, Martinsborough became “Greenesville,” in honor of Gen. Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War hero. The same act of assembly also chartered the Pitt Academy. This first academy was the beginning of Greenville’s long interest in education, and a history filled with numerous schools and academies under the auspices of many noted North Carolina educators.
“Greenesville,” which later became simply Greenville, remained a small courthouse village with several stores and wharves. During his Southern Tor in 1791, President George Washington came through the area and noted in his diary that Greenville was an “indifferent place” of about 15 families and had a large tar and turpentine market. Greenville continued to grow very slowly but had numerous prominent citizens, a shipyard, and even a jockey club.
In the 1830’s a bridge was built over the Tar River and steamboats came up the river and opened Greenville to the world. A number of factories established themselves in Greenville, manufacturing such products as guns, carriages, cotton gins, and silk. The town began to fade in the 1840’s when many of its prominent citizens left North Carolina during the mass exodus to the newly opened Southern and Western territories.
During the Civil War, Greenville’s location on the Tar River made it a target between Confederate and Union forces. The town was overrun and raided by Union forces several times and several skirmishes occurred here. Greenville was surrounded by earthworks and boasted several Confederate hospitals under the control of its female citizens. Reconstruction brought a carpetbagger type of government to both Pitt County and Greenville politics. Numerous killings and riots in the city streets only added misery to the poverty brought on by the aftermath of the war.
It wasn’t until the late 1870’s that Greenville began to come alive again. The town began to expand, nice homes were built, new businesses flourished, and by 1890, with the coming of the train, Greenville opened up to the world. In 1890, the first tobacco warehouse was built and Greenville later developed into the largest tobacco market in North Carolina. With all this tobacco money, Greenville expanded its borders, new industries came and large beautiful mansions were built to match the prosperity of their owners.
In 1907, the North Carolina Legislature established the East Carolina Teachers Training School, now East Carolina University. With its opening in 1909, Greenville became the educational and cultural center of Eastern North Carolina. Greenville’s prosperity and beauty as a city was well known since the Civil War and evidenced in 1919, when an Atlanta newspaper voted Greenville as one of the ten most beautiful small towns in the South.
Prosperous times soon gave way to the devastation of the Great Depression. Money was tight, businesses closed and houses were neglected. It wasn’t until the 1950’s a new spirit of building and renewal began. Greenville Urban Renewal plans of the 1960’s tried to create a renaissance in Greenville and demolished many of the old buildings in hope of stimulating new development. Unfortunately, while many neglected buildings were razed, much of Greenville’s past fell to the wrecking ball. Neighborhoods of beautiful homes were torn down for parking lots, and tree lined streets were cut down to enlarge them.
The 1970’s saw Greenville stretching out several miles from the old city center. East Carolina University and the Medical School made Greenville the center of medicine in Eastern North Carolina. A new prosperity has brought different businesses and industry to Greenville as new neighborhoods spread out in all directions.
The original downtown, now called “Uptown,” is in the midst of redevelopment with new specialty shops, art galleries, restaurants, nightclubs, concerts and festivals. Different historical and architectural groups, along with the city, are trying to save what remains of Greenville’s great past for future generations.
Greenville has been the stage for a colorful cast of characters and intriguing events. It has survived fires, floods, urban sprawl, traffic and the loss of the tobacco industry. With a population of some 68,000, Greenville still hasn’t lost its Southern graciousness and we hope the newcomer will find their own place in this special part of the world we call Greenville.