About
the Anderson Area
Anderson
- Belton - Honea Path -
Iva - Pelzer - Pendleton
- Piedmont - Starr - Williamston
- West Pelzer
 Anderson
County
The area now called Anderson County was part of the Cherokee
Indian Nation until the Revolutionary War. It was explored
by Gen. Andrew Pickens and Gen. Robert Anderson in 1776, and
settled — originally in the Pendleton area — in
the late 1700s. The county seat was moved from Pendleton to
Anderson in 1826. Anderson County is a key part of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson
Metropolitan Statistical Area market, which in 2000 had a
total population of 937,100 people.
Population:
165,740
Size: 718 square miles
Elevation: 764 feet
Climate:
Anderson County has four distinct seasons, with mild winters
and warm summers. The mean annual temperature is 62 degrees
F., and the area has average of 248 days a year of sunshine.
The average annual rainfall is 47 inches.
Location:
Northwestern South Carolina, 12 miles from the Georgia state
line, 122 miles northeast of Atlanta, and near the North Carolina
and Tennessee state lines.
Government:
Anderson County has an administrator-council form of government,
with an elected five-member council that sets policy and a
paid administrator who carries out county operations. Most
cities in the county have mayor-council governments and administer
police and fire departments and other municipal services.
Taxes:
Various state and county tax incentives and abatements combine
to produce one of the nation's lowest per capita tax structures.
South Carolina's state sales tax is 5 percent.
City
of Anderson
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Population:
25,514
Anderson was founded in February 1827 and incorporated by
an act of the Legislature Dec. 19, 1833. Anderson was nicknamed
the Electric City when power was transmitted over long-distance
electric lines to power a textile mill in the city in 1897.
Government:
The city has a council-manager type of government with an
elected mayor, an employed city manager and eight elected
council members to serve the eight city wards. The mayor and
council serve four-year terms.
Offices:
401 South Main Street
Anderson, SC 29621
Telephone: (864) 231-2200
Belton
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Population:
4,461
Long before Belton was chartered, it was an important stop
on the old wagon trail from the mountains to Hamburg, located
on the Savannah River near Augusta, GA. The wagon trail followed
the old Indian trail along which DeSoto is believed to have
traveled in 1540 when he crossed Anderson County on his way
to the mountains. When two railway lines created a junction
in Belton, this had much to do with the prosperity of the
area. Much of the land of the area was owned by Dr. George
Brown, a well-known physician. He gave several acres of land
for a railroad station, now the public square, and a lot on
which to build a school. His daughter, Josephine, named the
town Belton in honor of Judge Belton O'Neal who was instrumental
in the construction of the Greenville-Columbia railroad and
was its first president. The town was chartered in 1855. In
its early years, Belton was well-known for its hotel, built
by Brown and Broyles and sold soon after its completion to
G.W. McGee. It was famous for its food and hospitality, and
travelers from all over made a special effort to lodge there.
The castle-like tower that rises above the town of Belton
— the standpipe for water storage — has become
a familiar landmark and its image is used as Belton's logo
in the town's seal. It was constructed in 1909. Government:
Belton has a mayor-council form of government, with an appointed
Town administrator. The six elected council members and the
mayor serve four year terms on a staggered basis.
Offices:
306 Anderson Street
Belton, SC 29627
Telephone: (864) 338-7773
Honea
Path
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There
are some who say the town of Honea Path is operating under
an assumed name and that the original name was Honey Path.
The exact origin of the name of this small Anderson County
municipality has been tossed around for nearly a century.
The original 1885 charter refers to the town as "Honey
Path" in three places. Early wills and deeds also bear
the name "Honey Path." The town apparently was named
for William Honey, early trader and large landowner in the
area. There is a record of the town being incorporated in
1917 under the name Honea Path. Since that time, legal documents
have used the name Honea Path. The Pendleton District Historical
and Recreational Commission, however, says Honea Path came
from the Cherokee name for path, which is "Honea."
Population:
3,504
Government: The mayor and town council members
are elected to four-year terms with an election every two
years so that the terms are staggered.
Offices:
30 North Main Street
Honea Path, SC 29654
Telephone: (864) 369-2466
Iva
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Population:
1,156
Government: The town has a mayor/council
form of government on two-year elected terms.
Offices:
Town Hall
P.O. Box 188
Iva, SC 29655
Telephone: (864) 348-6193
Pelzer
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Population:
97 (incorporated area); 2,000 (greater Pelzer)
Government: Pelzer has a mayor/council form
of government with a Town manager handling operations.
Offices:
Courtney Street
Pelzer, SC
Telephone: (864) 947-6231
Pendleton
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Once
the center of the Pendleton District, which later was divided
into Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties, the town was placed
on the National Register of Historic Places. It is filled
with historic homes and buildings and the town square is host
to many festivals and events.
Population:
2,996
Government: The town operates under a mayor/council
form of government. The mayor and four elected council members
serve four-year terms on a staggered basis.
Offices:
310 Greenville Street
Pendleton, SC
Telephone: (864) 646-9409
Piedmont
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Piedmont, which is incorporated, is a two-county town, divided
by the Saluda River, with part of the town in Anderson County
and part in Greenville County. Piedmont has the distinction
of being one of the oldest manufacturing towns in South Carolina.
Its beginnings date back to 1843, when the area was known
as Garrison Shoals and a small grist mill and a log cabin
were the only structures.
The first mill building was completed in early 1876.
Several Piedmont schools are on Anderson County soil.
Starr
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Population: 173
Government: Starr has a mayor and a part-time
police officer and helps support a volunteer fire department.
The town officials are elected for two-year terms.
Offices:
Middle of Old Square
Telephone: (864) 352-2138
Williamston
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Population: 3,791
Government: Williamston operates on a mayor/council
government with four-year terms expiring on a rotating basis
every two years.
Offices:
12 West Main Street
Williamston, SC
Telephone: (864) 847-7473
West
Pelzer
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Population: 879
Offices:
3 Hindman Street
West Pelzer, SC
Telephone: (864) 947-6297
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