city, seat (1821) of Butler county, south-central Alabama, U.S., about 45 miles (70 km) southwest of Montgomery. Settled in 1819 by pioneers from Greenville, South Carolina, and originally called Buttsville in honour of an army officer killed while fighting the Creek Indians, it was renamed (1822) Greenville for the South Carolina city. Major manufactures include apparel, lumber, and wood products. Greenville has a campus of Lurleen B. Wallace Junior College. Country musician Hank Williams (Williams, Hank), born in nearby Georgiana, is honoured with a festival held each June. Inc. town, 1823; city, 1871. Pop. (1990) 7,492; (2000) 7,228.

city, seat (1827) of Washington county, west-central Mississippi, U.S. It is a port on the Mississippi-Yazoo River plain, 115 miles (185 km) northwest of Jackson. Old Greenville, named for the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene (Greene, Nathanael), was sited just to the south; part of this original settlement caved into the Mississippi River, and the remainder was burned by Union troops during the American Civil War. The present city was established on the Blantonia Plantation during the Reconstruction period. After a disastrous flood in 1927, higher levees were built. Lake Ferguson was created in the 1930s when an S-shaped curve in the Mississippi River was straightened.

Greenville is in the Mississippi Delta region of the state, noted for its blues musicians and fertile soils. Agriculture (particularly cotton and catfish) remains important to the city's economy, with tourism also a major factor (including gambling casinos). Greenville is the state's largest river port, and manufacturing (chemicals and clothing) is also important. The annual Mississippi Delta Blues Festival is held in Greenville in September, and the city is the birthplace of puppeteer Jim Henson (Henson, Jim). Just south of the city, a bridge spans the Mississippi to Lake Village, Arkansas. Winterville Mounds and Leroy Percy state parks are nearby. Inc. town, 1870; city, 1886. Pop. (1990) 45,226; (2000) 41,633.

city, seat (1787) of Pitt county, on the Tar River in eastern North Carolina, U.S., about 85 miles (140 km) east of Raleigh. It was incorporated in 1771 as Martinsborough (named for Josiah Martin, the last royal governor of North Carolina), and in 1774 it was moved 3 miles 【5 km】 west from its original site to its present location. In 1786 it was reestablished as Greenesville (for General Nathanael Greene (Greene, Nathanael), a hero of the American Revolution), later shortened to Greenville. The Greenville and Raleigh Plank Road (chartered in 1850 as part of a tollway from Washington in Beaufort county) and the arrival (in 1889 and 1907) of railroad lines stimulated its development.

Diversified manufacturing (notably pharmaceuticals and machinery) and educational and distribution activities now vie with agriculture (chiefly tobacco) as economic mainstays. Greenville is the site of East Carolina University (1907), part of the University of North Carolina (North Carolina, University of) system, and Pitt Community College (1961). Other cultural institutions include the Greenville Museum of Art and the May Museum and Park in nearby Farmville. Pop. (1990) 44,972; (2000) 60,476.

city, seat (1809) of Darke county, western Ohio, U.S., on Greenville Creek, about 35 miles (55 km) northwest of Dayton. Laid out in 1808, it was the site of Fort Greene Ville, named for Gen. Nathanael Greene and built by Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne (Wayne, Anthony) (1793). After his victory at Fallen Timbers (near the present site of Toledo), Wayne signed a peace treaty at the fort with Indians (1795) that opened the Northwest Territory to settlers. The fort was burned (1796), but the site is marked by the Fort Greenville Treaty Memorial. The grounds of the Garst Museum house relics of the Indian wars; personal belongings of Annie Oakley (1860–1926), the female sharpshooter of Wild West shows, who was born on a nearby farm; and the childhood home of broadcast journalist Lowell Thomas, who was born in Woodington, 5 miles (8 km) northwest. Greenville's economy is basically agricultural, augmented by light manufactures (notably gas and oil filters, glass products, plastics, and kitchen appliances). A branch of Edison Community College is in the city. Inc. city, 1902. Pop. (2000) 13,294; (2005 est.) 13,166.

city, seat (1797) of Greenville county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S., on the Reedy River, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains (Blue Ridge). First called Pleasantburg when the area was settled in the 1760s, it was renamed Greenville in 1821, probably for Isaac Green, an early settler, and was chartered as a village in 1831. Before 1860 it was a summer resort community. As the western terminus of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, the city served as the commercial centre for the Piedmont (rolling upland region) and for entry into the nearby Appalachian Mountains. Greenville strongly opposed nullification (in U.S. history, a doctrine holding that a state, within its territorial jurisdiction, has the right to declare null and void any federal law that violates its voluntary compact embodied in the Constitution) in 1832 and secession from the Union in 1860. Notable among the Unionists was Benjamin F. Perry, Greenville editor and later state governor.

After the American Civil War, waterpower of the Reedy River was used to develop manufacturing. Textile mills dominate, although there also are plants manufacturing chemicals, paper, plastic film, machinery, tires, electronics, and aircraft. Agriculture is important, farm income depending mainly on dairy products, cattle, and peaches.

Greenville is the home of Furman University, founded in 1826 as a Baptist theological school at Edgefield and moved to Greenville in 1850, Bob Jones University (1927), a Fundamentalist Bible college that moved to Greenville in 1947, and Greenville Technical College (1962). Greenville has a symphony orchestra, little-theatre organizations, and a county art museum. The Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery houses a large collection of religious art. Textile Hall was the site of the biennial Southern Textile Exposition (1917–64); the building subsequently was replaced, and it is now called the Palmetto International Exposition Center. A Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children is in Greenville. Inc. city, 1868; reincorporated, 1907. Pop. (2000) city, 56,002; Greenville-Mauldin-Easley MSA, 559,940; (2007 est.) city, 58,754; Greenville-Mauldin-Easley MSA, 613,828.

city, seat (1846) of Hunt county, northeastern Texas, U.S., on the Sabine River, 52 miles (84 km) northeast of Dallas. McQuinney Howell Wright donated the land for the site of the new county seat. Established in 1846 on the Republic of Texas's National Road—an ox-wagon trail from Jefferson to Austin—and named for General Thomas J. Green (who fought in the Texas Revolution), Greenville began to develop as a cotton-ginning and shipping point in the 1880s, when eight railroads converged on the fertile agricultural area. The location of a plant there by Chance Vought Aircraft Co. (later LTV Aerospace) in 1951 hastened the transformation from a farming to an industrial economy. The Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum (1987) is “dedicated to the preservation of the history of the American cotton industry” as well as to regional history. Lake Tawakoni, 16 miles (26 km) south, provides recreation and fishing facilities. Inc. 1873. Pop. (1990) 23,071; (2000) 23,960.

county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S. The northern section, which is bordered by North Carolina, lies in the Blue Ridge Mountains (Blue Ridge) of the Appalachian (Appalachian Mountains) chain, while most of the county lies in the foothill regions of the Piedmont. The Saluda River is the western boundary, and Greenville county is also drained by the Reedy River. Jones Gap and Caesars Head state parks are Blue Ridge recreation sites. Paris Mountain, a monadnock (isolated mountain) apart from the Blue Ridge, is also the site of a state park. The Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway traverses the northern part of the county.

Formerly Cherokee Indian territory, the area was acquired by settlers in a 1777 treaty and was organized as a county in 1786. It probably was named for Isaac Green, an early settler of the area. The city of Greenville, the county seat, is home to Furman University (founded 1826). During the American Civil War the county was a stronghold of the Union cause.

Most of Greenville county is urban, and it is the most populous county in the state. The economy is dominated by the city of Greenville, where textiles, chemicals, tires, and electronics equipment are manufactured; agriculture (milk, cattle, and peaches) is also important. After Greenville, Greer, Mauldin, and Simpsonville are the largest cities. Area 792 square miles (2,052 square km). Pop. (2000) 379,616; (2007 est.) 428,243.