Easley, South Carolina

History

In 1791 Washington District was established by the state legislature out of the former Cherokee territory. Rockville was also created in 1791 but changed to Pickensville in 1792. Pickensville became the district seat of Washington District which was then composed of Greenville and Pendleton Counties. In 1798 Washington District was divided into Greenville and Pendleton Districts. In 1828 Pendleton District was divided further with the upper portion becoming Anderson County and the lower becoming Pickens County named after Andrew Pickens.

Col. Robert Elliott Holcombe became a co-founder of the town by starting off as a farmer and timber mill owner in the area. His farming ventures enabled him to establish the storeroom in 1845 as the first business in the area. The namesake of the town was William King Easley. Easley was born in Pickens County, South Carolina in 1825. Easley and four others from Greenville represented the Greenville area in the South Carolina Secession Convention. When the American Civil War erupted, Easley raised a company of cavalry from Greenville and Pickens counties. During the war Easley served as a major in the Confederate Army.

After the civil war Easley became a local attorney and persuaded the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway to be established through Pickensville by raising $100,000 to invest in the railroad. Holcombe was considered to be the first citizen of Easley, building the first dwelling and train depot in the town from his family's lumber mill. Holcombe became the first mayor of the town and was also the first agent of the train depot. The town of Easley was chartered in 1873. At the time, the consensus was that it should be named Holcombe or Holcombetown, but Col. Holcombe said that he didn't think Holcombe was a very attractive name and that Easley sounded better. The Pickensville Post Office became Easley Post Office in 1875. The railroad transformed Easley into an industrious and thriving textile town. The Easley Textile Company, later known as Swirl Inc., came to Easley in 1953. The construction of U.S. Route 123 helped establish retail and new business to Easley. On April 25, 1951 a department store was on fire threatening many buildings in downtown Easley but the quick response of the fire department extinguished the fire.

Geography

Easley is located in southeastern Pickens County at 34°49′24″N 82°35′25″W (34.823371, -82.590394), 12 miles (19 km) west of the center of Greenville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.3 square miles (31.8 km²), of which 12.2 square miles (31.7 km²) is land and 0.039 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.17%, is water.

Larry Bagwell is the elected mayor.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,754 people, 7,227 households, and 5,058 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,668.8 people per square mile (644.3/km²). There were 7,932 housing units at an average density of 745.6 per square mile (287.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.35% White, 11.81% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.25% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.82% of the population.

There were 7,227 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city, the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $38,204, and the median income for a family was $47,867. Males had a median income of $35,399 versus $25,443 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,965. About 8.4% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Easley Police Department

The City of Easley maintains its own city police department, which has jurisdiction inside the city limits of Easley. The current chief of police is Tim Tollison. The department is located at the Easley Law Enforcement Center on Northwest Main Street in downtown Easley. There are 42 sworn police officers working for the department along with 3 civilians. The department is made up of an administration division, uniform patrol division, and a detective division. The Administration Division is made up of the chief of police, deputy chief of police, uniform patrol captain, and detective captain. The Uniform Patrol Division is made up of patrol team one, patrol team two, patrol team three, patrol team four, two school resource officers, and a reserve officer. The Detective Division is made up of 3 investigations officers. The rank structure is nepotistic. New officers are patrolmen, before rising to master patrol officer,then detective, then sergeant, then lieutenant, then captain, then major, and finally chief of police.

Easley Fire Department

The City of Easley also maintains its own fire department, with jurisdiction within the city limits of Easley. The current fire chief is Butch Womack, who has been chief since 1993. There are seven engines in the fire department and three fire stations in the city.

Baptist Easley Hospital

The City of Easley does not operate the Baptist Easley Hospital, located just outside downtown, but it is privately owned. However, it is a public hospital, one of the only two in the county.

Pickens County EMS

The City of Easley is provided EMS services by Pickens County EMS, the primary advanced life support service. There are 3 EMS stations located in Easley. Pickens County EMS is not the only EMS service in Easley, in some areas, private EMS services like Bowers Emergency Services, Medshore Ambulance Service, Vital Care EMS, Thorne Ambulance and Pelzer Rescue Squad are used to provide non-emergency services.

National Guard

Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 263rd Army Air Missile Defense Command, is based at the Easley National Guard Armory in Easley.

Recruiting

JROTC

Awarded Distinguished Unit 20 consecutive years in a row by NJROTC Area 6.

Schools

Public school services are provided to Easley by the School District of Pickens County. 7 of their schools provide public education to the children of Easley.

Most preschools in the city are private and provided by churches. There are also several private schools, such as Easley Christian School. Tri-County Technical College maintains a campus in Easley. Clemson University is also located in nearby Clemson. Southern Wesleyan University is located in nearby Central, Greenville Technical College and Furman University are located nearby in Greenville.

Notable people