Locations & Hours Mauldin
| Mauldin |
Branch History Captain Nathaniel Austin, the first permanent white settler in Greenville County, built a log cabin in the Mauldin area, and one of his descendants still owns a house built on the site in 1830. The community that grew up took the name Butler's Crossroads, after Willis Butler, who bought up land in the area. A post office, grist and cotton mills, and churches soon appeared. It was not until 1910 that the state awarded the town a charter and changed its name to Mauldin in honor of the Lt. Governor. With the boll weevil and the Depression, however, the town hit bottom, and from 1932 to 1957 its charter was inactive. Its fortunes have revived with the other towns along the Golden Strip, and industry and population growth have been enormous. Mauldin does not have a recognizable downtown area, like Fountain Inn and Simpsonville, but many descendants of its early settlers still live there. Some natives, like the actor Orlando Jones and the NBA star Kevin Garnett, have gone on to fame. In the early years books were brought to Mauldin by the library extension service, first in the school and later with biweekly stops of the bookmobile. This changed in 1961, when the citizens persuaded the Library to stock books in two unused rooms of the town hall. A visit to this little collection from Arthur Magill, noted collector of Wyeth paintings and textile entrepreneur, resulted in the gift of a building, which opened in 1962. This location served for decades as a focal point of community life: the town Christmas tree has stood in front and school children exhibited their craft work inside. The library moved to the new W. Jack Greer Library in August 29, 1999. Sources:
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