The area was part of the Cherokee nation's protected grounds after the treaty of 1763 ending the French and Indian War. No white man was allowed to enter, though some families already had settled just within the boundary, and white traders regularly crossed the area. The first white man to settle permanently in the area was Richard Pearis, who settled at the falls of the Reedy River sometime after 1770 which is now in downtown Greenville. Paris Mountain, overlooking the city, is named for him. During the Revolution, the Cherokee (and Pearis) sided with the British. After a campaign in 1776, the Cherokee agreed to the Treaty of DeWitt's Corner ceding territory that includes present-day Greenville County to South Carolina. Greenville was originally called Pleasantburg. Greenville County was created in 1786 from Spartanburg District (now Spartanburg County) but was called Greenville District from 1800 until 1868. Greenville is probably named for American Revolutionary General Nathanael Greene or Lord Grenville. Greenville is the mother district to Pendleton District (now Anderson County), Pickens District (now Pickens County) and Oconee District (Now Oconee County). During World War I; Greenville Served as a training camp center for Army Recruits. This eventually fostered the Developement of Donaldson Airforce base which became, aside from the railroad, a major economic force in Greenville. During the 1920s; Greenville rode high on the hog on the wave of Stock and Bond speculators when there was no control over the Stock Exchanges. One of the most successful of these was Walter Gassaway who was also a stock broker. He took his new found wealth and built himself and his wife a Scottish Castle complete with a Pipe Organ and one of the finest views of Greenville and the Mountains to be had at that time. When the 1929 crash came; Walter could not financially handle the demands for his falling stock. He took his own life on the front lawn of the mansion he had just completed. During World War II; Donaldson Airforce Base was built and was very important to the economy of the City of Greenville. Donaldson served as a Military base until the late 1950s when it was returned to the City of Greenville which has developed it as a business park. It contains historic Military style barracks which are used now by various businesses. From 1870 to the late 1950s and early 1960s; Greenville had a strict segregationist code. Racial tensions were great enough to result in sporadic lynchings of African-Americans who were perceived to stress the imposed social boundaries. In 1949, the alleged rape of a white woman by a black man spawned the creation of a vigilante lynch mob. The mob seized the jail as well as the jailer; the suspect was then hung and a fire built beneath him. No semblance of a trial occurred. Blacks in the area were subject to the standard segregationist restrictions; they were limited to the back of city buses, were not permited to stay in hotel or motel rooms which had white customers, had to sit in the balcony of movie theatres, etc. Especially significant was the restriction of blacks from use of the public library, which partially motivated the activism of the library-denied Jesse Jackson. Jackson, working through the NAACP, organized a sit-in at Greenville's "F.W. Woolworth's Five and Dime" store, and quickly emerged as a prominent civil rights leader. Compared to similar events in locations such as Birmingham, the protests were peaceful. --> Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenville%2C_South_Carolina