Prior to 1783, the area around the Stonehurst subdivision was Indian territory (primarily Cherokee) with no known settlements of British immigrants, although some traders would come and buy items like deer hides and other animal skins from the Cherokee. The Cherokee Esseneca Village was located just south of present-day Clemson University. The Soconnee Village was located near present-day Town of Pickens. In 1759, the Cherokee started attacking settlers that moved into Indian territory. In 1776, the Cherokee sided with the British at the start of the Revolutionary War, and continued attacking white settlers. By 1786, significant numbers of white settlers were moving into the Pickens County area.
In 1791 the State legislature created the Washington District, which included the present-day counties of Pickens, Greenville, Anderson, and Oconee, and appointed several local Commissioners to oversee the District. Brigadier General Andrew Pickens (1739-1817), a hero of the Revolutionary War, was one of the appointed Commissioners. The Commissioners decided to lay out a town at the intersection of two well-traveled dirt roads, near the location of the Stonehurst subdivision, as the seat of Washington District. It was officially named Pickensville by State statute in late 1792 in honor of General Pickens.The young Pickens commenced his military career as an officer in the Cherokee War of 1759 - 1761. After the hostilities, he moved to the Long Canes area of western South Carolina and married Rebecca Calhoun in 1765. During the American Revolution, Pickens became one of the most significant leaders of patriot forces in the South Carolina backcountry. He initially served as a militia company commander for the Ninety Six District and campaigned against loyalists in late 1775. By 1778, he had attained the rank of colonel of the Upper Ninety Six Regiment and had participated in expeditions against the British-allied Cherokees and in the unsuccessful American invasion of British East Florida. At the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, Pickens commanded South Carolina militia during the decisive victory over Lt. Colonel Tarleton's British and loyalist forces. Afterward, Pickens was named a brigadier general by Governor John Rutledge and cooperated with General Nathanael Greene's Continental Army as they targeted and captured isolated British posts in the South Carolina interior. Wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs in September 1781, General Pickens recovered to wage two punitive campaigns against the Cherokees in mid-1782.
After the Revolutionary War, General Pickens served as both a legislator and a negotiator with Native American tribes. He represented Ninety Six District in the State House of Representatives from 1776 to 1788 and Pendleton District in the State Senate from 1790 to 1793. He resigned his Senate seat upon his election to the US House of Representatives, where he served from 1793 to 1795. He built Hopewell Plantation in 1785, and that was his home until 1802, when he gave Hopewell to his son. He then built a new plantation nearby, called Tamassee, named after the Cherokee Village that used to stand there. The Hopewell House was built near the Seneca River. The river was later dammed to form Lake Hartwell, but the House still stands on the shores of the lake near Clemson, SC. General Pickens is buried in the Old Stone Presbyterian Church Cemetery, near Clemson, SC.
The town of Pickensville was located near the present-day intersection of South Pendleton Street (originally named Table Rock Street) and Hale Street. It stood on 60 acres of land that Brigadier General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had deeded to the Commissioners of the Washington District to allow construction of the town. General Pinckney initially named it Rockville, but soon after it was renamed to be Pickensville. The courthouse and jail for the Washington District was built here in 1792, but only a few houses or stores were built. In 1800 the Washington District was divided into the Greenville and Pendleton Districts. Pendleton District included present-day Pickens, Oconee, and Anderson Counties. Courthouses and jails were established in new locations in these counties, and the courthouse and jail at Pickensville were sold. In 1816, much of Pickensville was destroyed by a major fire. In 1823 Dr. John Robinson bought almost all the land in Pickensville and nearby. He established a plantation of about 1400 acres in the area, and later sold small lots to people who wanted to settle there. This led to the establishment of a cotton gin, houses and stores, and a hotel and barroom. Cotton was the main crop at that time.
The site for the Town of Easley was influenced by the railroad. The North Carolina Railroad was started in 1856, connecting Charlotte, NC, to Richmond, Virginia. The railroad desired to get access to the major population center of Atlanta, Georgia. They decided to build a rail line from Charlotte, through upstate South Carolina, through Georgia to Atlanta. In 1856, railroad companies were formed in Georgia and South Carolina, to oversee the railroad construction. The initial plan was that the railroad would run through Anderson, SC. The Civil War (1861-1865) stopped all work on the railroad construction. In 1868, both Georgia and South Carolina revived the plans for the railroad. The newly planned route, called the upper route, went through sparsely populated foothills to the west of the original route, passing through present-day Greenville and Easley. The person who most influenced this change was William King Easley.
William King Easley was born in 1825, at Riverside plantation, which belonged to his parents. Riverside was located along the Saluda River, in present-day Pickens County. He studied as a lawyer's apprentice and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1850. He went to practice law in New Orleans, but returned to the Pickens County area due to a yellow fever epidemic. He practiced law at the courthouses in Greenville, Pickens, and Anderson. In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, he organized a cavalry company from the Pickens County area and was its Captain. They joined with 3 other cavalry companies from South Carolina to form a battalion, and he was chosen to command the battalion and was promoted to Major. This battalion initially served in the Charleston area, but in 1862 it was ordered to go to Virginia as part of a Confederate army. He was suffering from what was thought to be typhoid fever, so he resigned and returned to Riverside to recover. In 1865, following the end of the Civil War, W. K. Easley was elected to represent Pickens County in the SC House of Representatives. There he was given the position of adjutant general and tasked with reorganizing the State's militia. He used the title of "General Easley" the remainder of his life. He became a director and attorney general for the Air-Line Railway. He helped raise capital to pay for the construction of the new line, which allowed him to influence the selected route. He died in 1872 from an undiagnosed illness, and was initially buried in the family cemetery at Riverside plantation. In 1976 his grave, and several of his ancestors, were moved to Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, due to deterioration of the family cemetery.
The track was laid, and the first train to travel through Pickens County came through in April 1873, passing about one mile north of Pickensville. However, it could not yet make it to Atlanta, because several rocky areas near Central, SC had not been finished. That took several more months. Robert Elliott Holcombe was a prosperous businessman in Pickensville, where he had been born in 1823. In 1863 he represented Pickens County in the State House of Representatives. He owned some property next to the track. He offered to build a depot building for the railroad for free, if the railroad would designate it as a station on the line. The railroad agreed. He finished the depot in August 1873, and added a store, a house, and a warehouse there. This first depot was on the south side of the tracks. He also had the area surveyed, and sold lots to others. Initially this area was known as Holcombe town, but a decision was made to name it Easley to honor William King Easley. In December 1873, the people living in the survey area applied to the State Legislature for a charter for the Town of Easley. The charter was granted in March 1874. A district one mile square, with the depot at the center, was granted, and the town was incorporated. In April 1874, an intendant (mayor) and four council men were elected. Holcombe was elected as the first mayor. Holcombe died in 1893, and is buried at George's Creek Church.
The railway transported merchandise and customers, and most businesses in Pickensville soon moved to Easley. The first brick building constructed in the town was built in 1881, and operated as a hotel. The first corporation chartered in Pickens County was the Easley Oil Mill in 1890. Here the gin mill separated seeds from the cotton, and the oil mill extracted oil from the cotton seeds and other types of seed. Pickens Railway, connecting Easley to the town of Pickens, was chartered in 1890. A single track was built, and there was no way to turn around, so the train traveled backwards for the nine mile return to Easley. The locomotive was called the Pickens Doodle. That track ceased commercial operation in 1955 and is now the Doodle Trail. In 1900 the Easley Cotton Mill was built to produce cloth from cotton when citizens bought stock in it in order to pay for the construction. In 1901 a town cemetery, called West View Cemetery, was established, and burial plots were sold. In 1902, a second cotton mill was built, named Glenwood Cotton Mill. In 1910, the Alice Mill was built. But in the end due to the availability of inexpensive clothing from overseas, all the mills in Easley had closed by the year 2000. The third Easley City Hall, made of brick, was built in 1912 and destroyed by fire in 1924. Many of the town's records were destroyed. In 1916, the railroad added a second track through Easley.
In the 1970's, declining passenger traffic on trains meant that the train no longer stopped in Easley. The construction of the Easley bypass, Route 123 (Calhoun Memorial Highway) took most automobile traffic away from Main Street. The construction of large shopping centers along Route 123 took even more customers away from downtown, and eventually all the general merchandise stores in the downtown area were closed. Easley has experienced most of its growth on the east side of Route 123, influenced by the Greenville area jobs and shopping. Easley could now be considered a bedroom community for Greenville.
References:
Pickensville-Easley History, by students of the Forest Acres/McKissick Quest Program, 1989, printed by A Press of South Carolina.
A Brief History of Easley, by R. Chad Stewart, 2017, South Carolina: The History Press
Tales from the South Carolina Upstate, by Nancy Rhyne, 2007, South Carolina: The History Press
World War II and Upcountry South Carolina, by Courtney L. Tollison, 2009, South Carolina: The History Press