Page 15 - 2020 Clemson New Comers Guide
P. 15

On March 17, 1875, Central was     arrival of new industries and businesses,
        incorporated as a town. The town   and the construction of Clemson
        extended one-half mile in each direction   University and SWU student apartments
        from the Airline Depot.            and new homes.

        When the Southern Railway moved its   Today, Central has approximately 5,000
        headquarters from Central to Greenville,   permanent residents and serves as a
        Central citizens were left dazed. Trains   home to students from SWU, Clemson
        no longer stopped to change engines and   University, and Tri-County Technical
        the shops and offices closed. Families that   College. It has also become a relaxed and
        had built their homes and settled down   welcoming bedroom community.
        were uprooted. Houses were vacant and
        business was at a standstill.      Recently, the town has announced
                                           its participation in the Main Street
        Over the 20th century, Central again   South Carolina Program. Through a   Six Mile
        experienced prosperity and an increase in   combination of community engagement,
        population due to the opening of a textile   market analysis, and organizational
        mill and the establishment of Central   positioning, Central will establish a
        Wesleyan College, now called Southern   series of key, market-driven strategies
        Wesleyan University (SWU).         designed to elevate and focus the   On land that once belonged to the   fight and still others moved to bigger cities
                                           community’s resources and capacity   Cherokee Nation, Six Mile is awash in   to obtain jobs. After the war, Six Mile
        During the 1990s, Central grew rapidly as   on building a sustainable, competitive   history and small-town charm. Its name   became a community with strong ties to
                                                                                                                larger cities where townspeople could find
        the result of regional road expansion, the   advantage downtown.     is linked to the local legend of Issaqueena,
                                                                             an Indian maiden. As the story goes,   more jobs, goods, and services while still
                                                                             Issaqueena set out on horseback to warn   enjoying their charming hometown.
                                                                             her lover, an English trader named Francis
                                                                             Allen, of an impending Cherokee attack   Descendants of the original settlers
                                                                             on Star Fort. As she rode, Issaqueena   still populate the town although there
                                                                             numbered the creeks and landmarks she   have been several waves of new residents
                                                                             crossed on her 96-mile journey, hence   as well.
                                                                             Six Mile.                                         Year-round the Six
                                                                                                                               Mile community comes
                                                                             Six Mile was signed over to South               together for annual events
                                                                             Carolina in a treaty in 1777, but the region   including the Memorial
                                                                             was not settled until about 1800 when         and Independence Day
                                                                             Scots-Irish, Dutch-German, and English       Celebrations, Community Trick
                                                                             pioneers gradually moved in, cleared the    or Treat, and the Christmas
                                                                             land, and planted crops.                   Parade and Ole Fashioned
                                                                                                                       Christmas. Each spring, Main Street
                                                                             The community was incorporated in        closes for the Issaqueena Festival/
                                                                             1910, and a few establishments sprung   Music Fest when children and adults
                                                                             up over the next few decades. Six Mile   enjoy free entertainment, great food, and
                                                                             was chiefly a farming community       arts and crafts vendors.
                                                                             until World War II
                                                                             when many men
                                                                             went overseas to


       (864) 654-1200 | ClemsonAreaChamber.org                                                                                                     11
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