Every time I stroll downtown I think about what it was like to be a kid walking down the streets with my parents, visiting the old map store on Coffee St. and stopping for some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at Coffee Underground. 🍨
Taking a walk through Falls Park always seemed like an epic hike… and the creepy “jail cell” definitely used to freak me out. Then we’d walk up to the Glazing Pot (where the Venue at Falls Park sits currently) and spend an afternoon painting pottery.
I knew our readers must have some good childhood memories of our city, too – so I asked for your stories, and here are some of your memories of growing up in Greenville (and some memories you’re making now):
“The Dollar Store on Main Street. The smell and the squeaky floors! The Christmas parades with big floats, high school marching bands and the Hejaz mini cars!” – Renae L.
“Yesterday, with the kids out of school, we didn’t have any big plans. So, I swooped up the kids and took them down to Barley’s for pizza lunch. Afterward, we jumped all around the fountain outside of Anthropologie, cruised through OP Taylor’s, and ended up with one candy selection each at Mast General. Simple, affordable fun. As we were walking in the sun down a bustling Main St, it crossed my mind that these three kids would remember downtown Greenville as a big part of their childhood. How lucky they are.” – Cathy S.
“My dad and his friend somehow always had free tickets for the baseball games in Mauldin. They would always be the cement seats at the end. We loved it. Tons of kids with our dads, who let us have little bit more freedom than our moms would’ve. Our dads were so loud too. We’d all be screaming trying to win the free pizza. We didn’t have a lot of money but every once in a while, dad would get us ice cream in the plastic hats. Loved those.” – Jen P.
“Going to McPherson Park and riding on George the Train. Someone brought George back to Greenville and I took my grandson on Pelham Rd to ride him. Brought tears to my eyes the memories from childhood.” – Joan N.
“I went to the movies every Saturday with admission of 6 bottle caps at the movie theater that used to be where the Hyatt sits now.” – Nancy H.
“My daddy would take me to the barbershop where he worked so I could watch the Christmas parade or the Veterans parade. He would sit me up on a trash can so I could see everything. Greenville always had the BEST Christmas parades. Those were the good old days.” – Dotty R.
“Going to “town” either Friday night or Saturday morning with my Mema and her best friend, Annie Mae. Went in almost every store on Main Street, and always ate lunch or “supper” at one of the restaurants or diners on Main Street.” – Diane B.
“Going to the Bijou for 9 cents and getting a box of popcorn for a nickel, and seeing Gene Autry.” – Heyward L.
“We were regulars at the OLD public library on Main, long since torn down. The children’s room was in the basement. The librarian allowed me to sit on the floor near books that I enjoyed while my mother made her selections upstairs. In 1st grade, the librarian suggested I look at The Little House on the Prairie series. I finished those and moved to Nancy Drew and other mysteries. By 3rd grade, I was allowed to spend an entire afternoon there waiting for my mother or father to complete work or errands. The floor had a large hooked rug and sunlight poured through the dusty old windows. Sometimes the librarian and I were the only people in this wonderful safe world of characters. It was my refuge.” Linda H.
“Visiting Joy the Elephant at the Greenville Zoo!” – Christen C.
“ My grandfather owning a drugstore on Main St and visiting him every Saturday! ❤️” – Mindy I.
“Used to go to the $1 movie theatre on weekends which is now the RWOC... unless they changed the name. I remember my stepdad taking all of us, my friends and brothers and we’d get bored with the movie and just play the $1 arcade type games until it was over. [And] The Uptown Downtown store on Main Street that did piercing’s upstairs! Us 90’s kids appreciated Vintage way before any of these millennial kids!” – Vanessa L.
“Sno hut on Wade Hampton during summer!” – Maria M.
“Going downtown to take Christmas card pictures.” – Emily R.
“I remember going to Sirrine Stadium for Furman football games. I remember getting a purple beanie (cap) for the entire Furman football season. I think it cost $1.00. You had to be under age 12 if I remember correctly. The beanie said “FU” and allowed me to sit on the hill for the game. My parents had season tickets for 50 years. It was great fun!” – Rena S.
“Remember the huge Astro. The Camelot when it was one theatre? The Mall Cinema!” – Andy R.
“Draggin’ Main Street on Fri. Sat.Sun. Every hot rod in the county was there” – Jim W.
“The Parker/Greenville football games Thanksgiving day. Riding downtown after the game.” – Charlotte B.
“Every Saturday my grandfather, Daddy O, would take me to the soda counter at Campbell’s Pharmacy. It was a wonderful place that served fresh-pressed orangeades. I remember sitting high up on that, padded, round stool watching them slice the oranges and then squeeze them in the press. It was the best thing ever!! I can still smell the aroma of those sweet oranges and hear my grandfather reading the “funnies” (what he called the comics in the paper) to me. I can still see his strong hands holding the Saturday paper and pointing to the words in the cartoon so I could read along. I have such heartfelt memories of Campbell’s. I really miss that place...but I miss Daddy O even more…” – Maye-Webb M.
“Patton, Tillman, Bruce sold children’s shoes and had a machine that would x-ray your feet for sizing. It was on Main Street downtown. It was fun to get new shoes there!” – Judy B.
“Going to the Plaza on Saturday morning with Daddy. Hot chocolate in the winter and Cherry smash in summer” – Susan K.
“Soooooo many great memories. For the most part my childhood was idyllic. I am so grateful to my Mom & Dad. Anyhow, here’s one of many: My friend Brian Waldrop and I begged, pleaded and finagled our parents until they gave us permission for a “big adventure.” Our plan, as little boys, was to ride our bikes the 5 1/2 miles from our houses on Wingate Rd. near Donaldson Center to the Putt-Putt place on W. Faris to play all day miniature golf. That was the plan. The journey is, of course, the destination. After about an hour, our longing for adventure kicked in and we made the decision to abandon the all-day-putt-thing and ride our bikes to Brian’s grandparent’s house. (They lived behind Ike’s Food Mart on Church St.) Long story short? That lead us to visit a friend who worked at Belks on Laurens Rd., then to the Great Escape, on to Mrs. Firecrackers and back home by our agreed upon time. Our parents were none the wiser. I was in my 30’s before I fessed up to our adventure...and I’ll never forget it. :)” – David L.
“Driving out to Loblolly for a scare. The story was that it was an abandoned, haunted lunatic asylum. Although I believe it just used to be a stately old home that fell into disrepair. Speaking of scary things to do, the old tuberculosis hospital where Herdklotz Park is now. Although I never went, I heard stories of voices, things moving around on their own, and a friend even said she had something thrown at her. The building is gone but some of the foundation can still be seen at the park, and they tell stories of “shadow people” in the tree line after dark.” – Carl M.
I hope GVL continues to grow as a kid-friendly city so those who are just starting to explore the city with their parents eventually have the same great memories I (and y’all) do.
What are your thoughts on how Greenville could become more kid-friendly?
– Kendall
