Cleveland Park

This park was named for William Choice Cleveland, who donated 110 acres of land in 1926 that once belonged to the Cherokee people. The city opened the park and promised to fill it with baseball fields, tennis courts, a track, a playground, and clean out the creek bed. There even used to be horse shows!

Here in the park there used to be a swimming pool, built in 1940, used for ice skating in the winter. For a dime, you could go swimming or skate. My Elisi (what we call our grandmother in Cherokee families) has shared stories with me about what happened. In 1961, during the Civil Rights Movement, 8 Black children tried to go ice skating and were arrested. When the NAACP sued to open the pool to children no matter their race, the Greenville officials responded by closing the pool permanently to everybody.

Strangely, they opened the pool to sea lions intead, who visitors could come to watch. While a successful attraction, it was expensive and the pool began to leak. The mayor of the time then sold the sea lions to the Atlanta Zoo. The very next day, the pool was drained, and made into a rose garden.

White people today can hardly believe this story. Having Cherokee heritage, my people are no strangers to unfulfilled promises and racism. It is my sincere hope that this park and the new Unity Park opening on the Reedy River will be a place for the community to gather, and share in the wonder that is the beauty of Greenville’s river systems.

Suggested Reading:

Helsley, Alexia Jones. Hidden History of Greenville (History Press, 2009)

Nolan, John. A Guide to Historic Greenville (Arcadia Publ. 2008)