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==History== Greer was named for James Manning Greer, who was [[Scotland|Scottish]]. Many of his descendants still reside in the region. James Manning Greer was a descendant of John Greer Sr., who surveyed his land in [[Laurens County, South Carolina|Laurens County]] in 1750. John and his family were already in Laurens County, prior to the Greer passengers who arrived aboard the ship ''The Falls'' in 1764. John, Sr.'s great grandson, James Manning Greer, settled his family near Greenville in an area that eventually became known as Greer's Station.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History of Greer |url=https://www.cityofgreer.org/556/History-of-Greer |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=www.cityofgreer.org}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Greer |url=https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/greer/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=South Carolina Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref> [[File:Greer Downtown Historic District.jpg|thumb|left|[[Greer Downtown Historic District]]]] The area now known as Greer was once part of the "Domain of the [[Cherokees]]" prior to the [[American Revolutionary War]]. In 1777, the area was added to the state of South Carolina. Development toward the birth of the town occurred in 1873, when the Richmond and Danville Air Line Railway (now the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]]) established a line between [[Atlanta]] and [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]]. A station was built on land that belonged to James Manning Greer, and was named Greer's Station. The first post office was located in the new depot, Greer's Depot.<ref name=":0" /> That depot was a red brick, Victorian structure with a slate roof and a [[cupola]]. It was located immediately adjacent to the current Norfolk Southern rail line between Trade Street and Depot Street, facing toward Moore Street. It was demolished in 1976 by its then owner, the Southern Railway System, in order to avoid property taxes. When the town was incorporated in 1876, it was named Town of Greer's. One hundred years later, the name was officially changed to the City of Greer without an "s" on the end.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=SC Picture |date=2008-11-16 |title=Greer Station |url=https://www.scpictureproject.org/greenville-county/greer-station.html |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=SC Picture Project |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Greer Station |url=https://www.cityofgreer.org/552/Greer-Station |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=www.cityofgreer.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South Carolina Railroads - Piedmont & Northern Railway |url=https://www.carolana.com/SC/Transportation/railroads/sc_rrs_piedmont_northern.html |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=www.carolana.com}}</ref> Merchants, blacksmiths and physicians set up shop in what is now the downtown area of Greer. In 1900, Greer's first bank, the Bank of Greer's, opened. The [[Piedmont and Northern Railway]] laid a second railroad line through Greer in 1914. With two active train lines, Greer became an attractive site for commerce. The railway meant big business for local farmers, enabling them to ship their crops, mainly cotton and [[peach]]es, out of state. Greer also became a textile-manufacturing center, with flourishing mills that included Victor, Franklin, Apalache and Greer Mills. The communities that grew up around the mills were as close-knit as the outlying farming communities.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In 1939, artist [[Winfred Walkley]] painted a mural, ''Cotton and Peach Growing'', for the town's [[Greer Post Office|old post office]] as one of thirteen works commissioned by the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Department]]'s Section of Fine Arts between 1938 and 1941 for post offices and federal buildings throughout South Carolina.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/greenville/S10817723069/|title=Greer Post Office|access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref> The building is now home to the Greer Heritage Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.greerheritage.com/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Greer Heritage Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> After [[World War II]], the city began to grow and diversify its industrial base. A new hospital and high school were built. People came to downtown Greer from Spartanburg and Greenville to shop. In the early 1960s, [[Interstate 85]] was opened, as well as the [[Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport]]. Imports derailed the textile industry in the 1970s and threatened to turn Greer into a ghost town, but the citizens of Greer worked together to attract new industry.<ref>[http://www.greerdevelopment.com/community/history.asp The Greer Community History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006204208/http://www.greerdevelopment.com/community/history.asp |date=October 6, 2011 }}</ref>
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