GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — A new year always brings new milestones. For the city of Greenville, 2024 is marking a big one.
They’re celebrating 250 years!
The city was first established in 1774 as Martinsborough. Years later, in 1787, the city was renamed Greensville and then later Greenville after the Revolutionary War general, Nathanael Greene.
The city is compiling all of this history on its 250th anniversary website.
“When you think about the hub of Eastern North Carolina in Greenville, it really dates back to those early days,” said Brock Letchworth, the city’s public information officer. “The river and the ports here in Greenville were that hub. From the river’s importance to the farming of tobacco and cotton. They were all very instrumental in the development of Greenville and played a significant role in the population growth and economic development here.”
Now, 250 years later, some things have changed, but the values are still the same.
“Throughout Greenville’s history, education has been a big thing,” Letchworth said. “Pitt Academy was established in the late 1700s and that was really the beginning of what has become a tradition of education in Greenville. The medical field has also become a big thing with the first hospital to what we have now with the ECU health campus.”
On this 250th anniversary, the city wants to recognize these unique aspects.
“We’re going to do as much as we can to involve the community with a different theme for each month,” Letchworth said. “Examples include focusing on Black history in February, people and places with the parks and places who are named after people. Also paying tribute to the river with interactive activities.”
They need help from the people of Greenville.
“We have folks with plenty of stories to tell, maybe there are artifacts in their home that they’d like to share,” he said. “We’re looking for all of that stuff from the community. We want to get some of those old stories, we want to post some of those oral histories on our website, we want to display some of the artifacts when we do an exhibit here in city hall.”
If you would like to make any contributions to the site, contact Letchworth at (252) 329-4131 or bletchworth@greenvillenc.gov.
City officials are excited about this look back at the past, but also at the future.
“We want to get the community involved as much as possible because they are going to play a significant role in making sure the future of Greenville is as successful as the past has been thus far,” Letchworth said.
The city has plans to have a birthday celebration in October, along with those other activities planned each month. You can also pick up one of their special 250th anniversary calendars in city hall.
