Where in the heck is Easley, SC?? Right next to Greenville, S.C.

Most people would ask this question if I said we were in Easley, South Carolina. 

What was first named Rockville in 1791 became Pickensville the next year and, later, Easley in the late 1800s. During its short history, Pickensville played a major role in the development of upstate South Carolina.


In 1792 it held the distinction of being the district seat for Washington District, which was composed of Greenville and Pendleton counties. In 1798 the Washington District was divided into the Greenville and Pendleton districts, with Pickensville maintaining its place as the district seat for Pendleton. Pendleton District was composed of what would later be known as Pickens, Anderson, and Oconee counties.


When a new courthouse was built in Pendleton for the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas, the importance of Pickensville began to wane. The ultimate demise came when the railroad located through Easley, a scant 2 miles (3 km) away. The state granted a charter for Easley in January 1874. The next year (1875), the US Post Office Department renamed the Pickensville Post Office, which had opened in 1795, to the Easley Post Office.



Pickensville and Pickens County were named after General Andrew Pickens of Revolutionary War fame. Easley's namesake was General William King Easley who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. General Easley was an attorney for the Atlanta and Charlotte Railroad Company, which owned the railroad that passed through Easley. Robert Elliot Holcombe, who became the first mayor of Easley, financed and built the first depot in town.



We are actually in Greenville SC not Easley, although my cousin AJ Appenhiemer and his family (his wife Heather, daughters Bentley and Regan) live in Easley.  So let me first say that we had an awesome time visiting one of my favorite cousin and family.  As always you will all be missed until we connect again.

Greenville South Carolina, is a beautiful city filled with tasty restaurants, a modern art  district and much more.
I want to tell you about an area known as "FALLS PARK ON THE REEDY".  Falls Park On The Reedy is a beautiful 26-acre city park located in the middle of downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The focal point of Falls Park is the $4.5 million Liberty Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that spans the Reedy River and overlooks the Reedy River waterfalls. Landscape architect Andrea Mains of Washington, DC designed Falls Park to feature a collection of garden rooms to display seasonal color and artistic garden design.

Specialty gardens, including the Falls Cottage Garden and the Governor’s School Woods, blend ornamental and native plants to make Falls Park a true downtown attraction. Once a hunting ground for the Cherokee Indians, the Reedy River in downtown Greenville, SC saw its first white settlers in 1773 when Richard Pearis purchased 10 square miles along the river from three Cherokee chiefs, and later operated a gristmill at the Upper Falls of the Reedy.

In 1852, Furman University bought the land, and three textile mills and a cotton warehouse operated there in the early 1900s.


In 1967, the Carolina Foothills Garden Club reclaimed 26 acres along the river and over the next 40 years worked with the City of Greenville, individuals, corporations, and state and federal agencies to further develop the park, clean up the river and restore the historic Falls Cottage. In this video, Greenville Mayor Knox White talks about how the development of Falls Park On The Reedy has contributed to the revitalization of the City of Greenville and how it has become one of Greenville’s primary attractions. 

With just a week in the area and knowing our cousin was around we did not spend a lot of time exploring. 


What we will tell you is that Greenville is a wonderful city with a lot to offer.  Oh did we mention that diesel is only 3.43 per gallon.  Almost want to redirect your travel just to grab a tank full.  With that said, we are off to Ashville NC for our next adventure.  This time we will be there for a month and will have some great things to share. 

FYI, all photos of the falls were taken by my camera.  Although they do have a professional look. 

I want to end this with a quick note that even though we continue to have fun doing what we love, there is always things going on where we came from.  One of my jobs was to assist coaching of HS wrestling.  I met many wonderful kids and now many have grown to be wonderful parents and husbands.  One in particular is a young man by the name of Jacob Baxter. 

Jacob Baxter was a awesome at every sports he did in HS.  Wrestling, baseball you get the idea.  He graduated went on to college and married a wonderful woman who together they have three children, the youngest only six weeks old.  Sadly Jacob was walking the side of the low falls in Rochester NY when he fell into the Genesee river and after two days missing his body was found. 

He was 27.  It hurts me because he had so much going for him and his family, a ministry in his future as well as the ability to teach more children most anything possible.  I was devastated to hear that he had gone missing in the murky waters that rushed so hard divers decided to wait a few days.  By the grace of God or prayer or positive energy his body came up miles down the river and authorities recovered his body. 


Jacob Baxter will be missed by many and many will shed tears this week at his burial.  One thing will be on everyone's mind after that day, what will his wife with three young children do.  I was a in a family that was fatherless, my dad died in 1965, my mom took care of 5 children and with help from our aunts, uncles and grandparents we were able to recover enough to be productive citizens. 

So if you read this, please say a prayer for a young man who was called to God at such a young age.  Think a thought for those three children who are without a father, and most of all send a positive energy in the direction of his wife Christina Baxter.     

RIP Jacob Baxter 1986 - 2014