City of Anderson SC history

It was founded in 1826 on what had been Cherokee Indian land.

When Anderson sparked the Industrial Revolution in the South with the first long-distance transmission of hydroelectric power, it was dubbed the “Electric City.” The county boasts the state’s oldest cotton mill in operation, Pendleton Factory (now La France Industries), built in 1838.

Clemson University (1889) is 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Anderson.

With the financial assistance of city leaders, he formed the Anderson Water, Light, and Power Co. in 1893.

The first hydroelectric power to be generated in the area was from a plant at High Schoals on the Rocky River, built in 1894.

The first cotton gin in the world to be operated by electricity was in Anderson County in 1897.

Named for a local Revolutionary War hero, General Robert Anderson, it has been called the Electric City because of early (1898) long-distance power transmission from the Seneca River.

Mill village growth primarily accounted for the county’s 12,000 in population increase, to nearly 54,000 people by 1900.

But the Portman Shoals Dam and power plant had problems, shutting down for nearly a year in 1901, and was plagued by floods, dam breaks, explosions and electrical fires.

In addition to sharing Piedmont Mill with Greenville, the county was home to rapidly growing Pelzer Mill, and, by 1902, Anderson, Orr, Riverside, Brogden, and McBrayer Mills, twine and apparel factories, and mills at Williamston, Belton and Honea Path.

It wasn’t until 1905, however, that a hydroelectric generating plant at Saluda Lake could supply mills and downtown residences.)

The campus has three buildings dating from its founding in 1911.

In 1912 the Anderson Water, Power and Electric Co. sold its facilities for nearly $1 million to James B. Duke’s Southern Power Co., which increased voltage and safety.

But the county grew only by 4,000 people in the decade, and by 1930, its 88,000 population was well behind Greenville’s 117,000.

Forrest Junior College is a private two-year institution, which opened as the Carolina School of Commerce in 1946.

The federal government announced that the Corps of Engineers would build Lake Hartwell to control flooding on the Savannah River, and Portman Shoals Power Plant shut down in 1960.

The Hartwell Dam (1963), impounding Hartwell Lake on the Savannah River, provides hydroelectric power and recreation facilities.

The system, plus $2.25 million, was transferred to City ownership in 1989, and Duke Power Company was relieved from the franchise agreement.

An Electric Centennial in 1994 focused around his portrait; his statue in bronze stands opposite the courthouse; and a small downtown park features a rescued Portman Shoals generator.