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
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