How Much Do You Know About Pelham Mill Park?

Have you visited Pelham Mill Park in Greer, SC? This park is both pretty and historical. Local mom, Liene, visited Pelham Mill Park and she’s sharing all about it what you’ll see when you visit.

For more park reviews, see our Parks in Greenville page.

This historic site in Greenville has somehow flown under the radar of the majority of locals, even those living and working nearby. However, with its old mill ruins, river shoals, and a couple of acres of bottomland forest, Pelham Mill Park could be considered one of the more interesting parks in Greenville County.

Quick Review of Pelham Mill Park

• Plenty of Paved Parking
• No restrooms on site
• Dog park
• No playground
• Hiking trails (Be careful as they are not well marked, but the ones behind the dam are fairly easy. The trail in front of the dam we found to be harder to navigate and steeper.)
• Overlook of historic dam

About Pelham Mill Park

Home to one of the first textile mills in Greenville County, there are scenic and historic elements that liken it to Falls Park downtown. The Upstate was largely shaped by the textile industry, and just as Falls Park contains the ruins of a grist mill, Pelham Mill Park contains the remnants of a cotton mill.

Evidence of a complex series of stone and brick foundations span the floodplain, shoals, and terrace that overlook the Enoree River. These ruins are accessible to visitors, though be warned – with steep, muddy footpaths, tall grass, and sometimes unfortunate litter & poison ivy, caution should be exercised when exploring the site.

The Greenville County Historic Preservation Commission donated the thirteen acres to Greenville County in 1988. Seven acres have been added through a partnership with Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority.

The site is also home to the restored Pelham Mill Post Office. The building was built in 1870 as Pelham Mill’s office until the textile plant closed in 1930. It became a post office until it was closed in 1996, and when Highway 14 was widened in 2002 it was moved to its present location.

Exploring the Mill’s Dam

Other features of the park include a paved path leading to the historical 19th-century stonework dam. An overlook provides a view of the dam, architectural remains of the mill, and shoals on the Enoree River.

Crumbling walls, foundations and depressions give evidence to what used to stand on the site: two steam smokestacks, underground pipes, drains, turbines, nine brick pilings, the mill’s main powerhouse and steam generator, and finally the large mortared stone dam with six sluice gates spanning the Enoree River. The Mill burned down in 1943 (except for the mill office), as the only fire trucks available had to come all the way from Greenville and Greer.

Pelham Mill is recognized by the Greenville County Historic Preservation Commission as one of 11 historic sites in the County.

The Enoree River History

On a related note, the Enoree River served another important purpose a few hundred years earlier. In 1766 NC/SC negotiated a boundary with the Cherokee between ‘Indian land’ and their new settlement. This line extended from Honea Path across the Reedy River all the way to Virginia, but today there is nothing to remind us of this aspect of southern history except a few historic markers like the one nearby on Highway 14.

Plan a visit to Pelham Mill Park

2770 E Phillips Road
Greer, SC 29650
Visit the website Palham Mill Park

Have you explored Pelham Mill Park?