[5] In the colonial years, English and Scots traders from Charles Town (later known as Charleston) were the first Europeans to make regular forays into this back country, part of the traditional territory of the Cherokee Nation, which had numerous towns on the upper tributaries of the Savannah River, especially along the Keowee River.

Their territory extended into modern western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northeastern Georgia.

"[6] The trade in deerskins was highly lucrative, and traders passed on information among them about landmarks and the distances to their customers in the Nation.

A town in this area and a district both became known as "Ninety-Six", which historian David P. George believes is related to traders' references to these two landmark groups of streams.

Using historical accounts and USGS maps, he and other historians have traced the Cherokee Path across present-day Greenwood County, territory that at the time was part of other districts.

The construction of the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad in 1852 in this area enabled planters to more easily get their products to market.

[9] In the late nineteenth century, conservative white Democrats had continued efforts to suppress black voting, through fraud and violence.

Beginning with Mississippi in 1890, state legislatures passed new constitutions and laws that essentially disenfranchised most blacks.

They maintained this political exclusion for decades, weakening the Republican Party throughout the South, where it had chiefly attracted freedmen and their descendants.

[10] South Carolina passed such a constitution in 1895 but violence continued around elections as African Americans tried to vote for Republican candidates.

White Democrats were determined to regain power after a fusionist ticket had been elected at the state level.

His brother Thomas P. Jr, was collecting affidavits in Phoenix from African Americans who wanted to vote for Tolbert but had been prevented from doing so.

Violence took place throughout the Phoenix area for four days, with armed groups of whites coming from around the county to hunt down black suspects.

Many African Americans left this and other rural counties in the early 20th century in the Great Migration from 1910 to 1940, to escape Jim Crow suppression and violence, and gain jobs in industrial cities of the North and Midwest.

As local textile mills struggled to survive, they resisted union efforts to organize the workers.

The largest New Deal project in the area was construction of Buzzard's Roost Dam on the Saluda River to impound Lake Greenwood and generate electricity at a county-owned power plant.

Since then, the county sold the hydroelectric plant to Duke Power Company, which dominates the regional market.

New factories have been constructed by such major corporations as Capsugel (Lonza), Fujifilm, Monsanto (Ascend), and VELUX.

The most common employment sectors for residents of Greenwood County are Manufacturing, Healthcare & Social Assistance, and Retail trade.

The cost of living index is created from the following categories: goods/services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%).

[33] Major employers in Greenwood County include Self Regional Healthcare, Greenwood County School Districts, Eaton Corporation, FujiFilm Manufacturing, U.S.A.; Carolina Pride, Capsugel, Lander University, Piedmont Technical College, Cardinal Health, Ascend Performance Materials, and VELUX.

[34][35] Major existing industry clusters include Life Sciences, Food Processing, Advance Materials, and Wood Products.