A New Chapter in History

Built at the same time as the new library building (photograph of the construction above), this structure was designed to look much older. Specifically, its clock tower and brick siding capture the mill design of Greenville's historic textile history (the tower would have a lookout for fires and the bell to signal working shifts, high above so even the whole surrounding mill community could hear). The Upcountry History Museum is a great stop for all ages seeking to learn more about the Greenville area and its rich history. It's also a great place to leave this tour and open up a broader history by going inside.

Beginning in the 1990’s, the Greenville County Historic Preservation Commission began formulating plans to build a museum that would tell the story of the area’s unique history (“About the Museum”). With land donated by Mr. Phillip R. Hughes, the museum would contain a 9,000 square foot gallery for permanent displays, a 2,000-square-foot area for rotating exhibits, an education center for children, a theatre, a gift shop, and a library (which became a resource room). When the museum was actually built, the exhibit space was doubled, now totaling 4,000 square feet!

As you might have noticed on the side of the building, the legacy of the GWC continues here, as the Upcountry History Museum still has a special relationship with Furman University--the school that merged with the GWC in the mid-twentieth century. In 2012, Furman became a sponsor of the museum, as a way to return the university to its presence in downtown Greenville. High Noon Lectures and other events still bring Furman faculty downtown to speak.

Perhaps most significantly, displays in the museum had important moments in the university's history that could not be found on Furman's campus--the practices of its founders regarding slavery and a display on the university's desegregation. Such displays helped empower the University to better research and tell its own history, including the 50th anniversary of desegregation and the Seeking Abraham report that studies the school's history in the region.

The broader region is continually well-served by having locations like the Upcountry History Museum and Heritage Green to remind us of our past and how we might better understand it, so we can better move forward based on real facts and real experiences in our own backyard.

In that vein, one resident of Heritage Green perhaps could be noted to close the tour. Clark Murphy was employed by the GWC from the late 1850s up through the 1910s. He was "Uncle Murphy," the 'loyal slave' who was rented by the school as custodian, bell ringer, and general campus manager. He stayed in the position for decades following the Civil War and emancipation. Kept illiterate as a slave and perhaps without many opportunities elsewhere, he lived in a small space on Heritage Green for many of these years, everyday ringing the bell, as would be in this tower, to mark the start and stop of class times. Students of the GWC wrote eloquently about the fond memories of the intelligent and affable Murphy, who was one of the closest caretakers to all the women who studied here.

His descendants would be able to one day access culture and resources at all of these public-serving cultural institutions on Heritage Green, thanks to the Greenville 7 and Greenville 8. Even though history is very complicated, we can all be assured that this space symbolizes social improvement and the region's movement in the right direction as education and culture become possible for more and more people. With hard work, social agitation, and hope for the future, we will continue to see resources become available to even more in our community.

Heritage Green will continue to be the land on which those dreams become possible.

Sources Used:

Allen, Deborah; Baker, Laura; Benson, T. Lloyd; Cosby, Teresa Nesbitt; Inabinet, Brandon; Jennings, Michael; Kubakundimana, Jonathan; Lightner, Shekinah; Makala, Jeffrey; McKelvey, Chelsea; Mix, Quincy; O'Neill, Stephen; Stuart, Forrest M.; Teye, Andrew; Thomas, Courtney; Tollison, Courtney; and Whitlinger, Claire. "Seeking Abraham: A Report of Furman University's Task Force on Slavery and Justice" (2018). The Task Force on Slavery and Justice, 29.

“About.” Upcountry History Museum. Accessed 11 Oct. 2018.

“Furman, Upcountry History Museum Join Forces to Create New Partnership.” Furman News. 22 Feb. 2012. Accessed 11 Oct. 2018.

Szobody, Ben. “Furman to Operate History Museum.” The Greenville News, 22 Feb. 2012.