Travel Guide Greenville

With close to 56 000 inhabitants, Greenville is the county seat of the same name. In the aftermath of the Secession War, the city's economy was based on the manufacture of textiles (three textile mills and one cotton warehouse were present on the banks of the River Reedy River). Today, it is mainly foreign companies which, attracted by low wages and favourable subsidies, have allowed economic activity to recover for many years. Michelin employs several thousand people here, while BMW built a huge plant about kilometres away from Greer. Directly linked to the establishment of a large French industrial group, the French community of the city is estimated at 800.After difficult years, Greenville became a first-class artistic and cultural centre in a renovated urban environment. Falls Park and its superb gateway, Liberty Bridge, facing the river, as well as accommodations around Main Street (Downtown) are excellent examples of successful architecture. Greenville is the birthplace of George Hincapie, the famous cycling champion who fought seventeen Rounds of France consecutively from 1996 to 2012. Each year, at the beginning of September, the United States Road Race Cycle Championships, which brings together the best American professional cycling Racers. Finally, two of the city's many cultural events are to report: Artisphere in May and Greenville Open Studio, the first weekend of November.