OUR HISTORY
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Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Pacolet sits in the wedge between Union and Cherokee County. Pacolet is located 10 miles from Spartanburg, 40 miles from Greenville, and 90 miles from Columbia, SC.
Pacolet is full of rich history. Pacolet is proud to be one of the twenty Preserve America Communities in South Carolina. Pacolet was the home of Pacolet Manufacturing Company, one of the leading textile manufacturing companies in the early 1900s.
Originally known as Trough Shoals, the area was purchased by the Montgomery and Walker, Fleming, and Company in 1881 to develop a textile mill along the Pacolet River. In 1884 the mill, built by John H. Montgomery, became operational as the Pacolet Manufacturing Company. As the mill became successful, the town grew, eventually receiving investment from Seth Milliken, a New York merchant with the Deering Milliken Company. The mill owners built an entire town around their mill, including all the housing, stores, quality of life, and infrastructure necessary to attract and retain the employment needed to run such a large-scale mill operation. Eventually, Milliken & Co became the owner of this mill. The mill operated until 1983 when it closed permanently. Pacolet has all the necessary components to see investment in the community, including a vibrant river, a beautiful mill town (original design by the famous landscape architect Earl Draper), and the footprints of an extensive former mill development. The Pacolet Mills area of the town is still powered by the hydroelectric dams installed in the past, providing sustainable green energy to its residents through Lockhart Power.
Learn more about the history of Pacolet on the Pacolet Memories website. Would you like to join a committee focused on preserving the history of Pacolet? Click this link to sign up for the history committee.
Community Covenant
We, the people of Pacolet, hold the following to be true that we:
bear responsibility for the future of our community;
continue as stewards of nature’s blessings entrusted to us in this place;
cherish and protect our community, its people, and all our assets, ensuring sustainability for generations to come.
Acknowledging these truths, we commit to one another and our community the following:
to preserve the character of our community
to care for one another, especially guiding our youth and caring for our aging population
to recognize, celebrate and accept diversity at all levels
to continue the Pacolet tradition of neighbor helping neighbor
to realize our connection to the river and its role in our lives
to preserve and celebrate our natural, physical and cultural history
to provide recreational and learning activities for our citizens
to plan and manage future growth to benefit our community
to promise a lifelong commitment to our home, Pacolet
