Anderson Real Estate Homes for Sale

The town of Anderson, South Carolina, is the county seat of the Anderson County, near the Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitan area.The thriving city of over 25,000 people is perhaps best known as the first city in the United States with a constant supply of electrical power, earning it the name Electric City, in the late 19th century. The proximity to Lake Hartwell and Lake Keowee is one of the big attractions of Anderson SC real estate. For more information on Anderson homes please contact us using the link above.

History of Anderson, South Carolina

The history of Anderson includes thousands of years of Native American inhabitation.At various times, the Mississippian, Catawba, Creek and Cherokee tribes have all occupied the area to varying degrees.Archaeologists have found evidence of human activities early as 11,000 years ago in the state.

The area, now known as South Carolina, was part of the Cherokee Nation in 1755, when the Cherokee Nation ceded the Eastern section of their territory to the State of South Carolina.Robert Anderson, along with his friend, Andrew Pickens, both of later Revolutionary War fame, surveyed the western section of the new state.The rest of the modern-day state of South Carolina was gained by default when the Cherokee were driven north and west by Revolutionary forces in 1777.The Anderson District was the official boundary of land opened up to European settlement until 1783.

Anderson District was created out of the much larger Pendelton District in 1780 and the courthouse for the whole area was in the town of Pendelton.In 1791, the governmental power was moved to Pickensville (named for the same Andrew Pickens) where it remained until 1800 before the first log county building and courthouse was erected on the site, almost exactly in the center of the Anderson District.Some of the settlers that continued to arrive set up near the building, causing the site and fledgling village to be called Anderson Courthouse.Wealthy aristocracy followed these settlers and bought land for plantations and summer homes in the area.

 Among the earliest settlers were former Revolutionary War soldiers who were given land deeds in place of their back salaries that the newly formed independent state could not pay in a legal, recognized currency.These grants, given out in 1786, were responsible for bringing the first wave of European migration to the area including many Scots-Irish farmers moving out from other colonies.Golf and waterfront communities south carolina

Very early settlement was widespread.Big Creek Baptist Church was among the first in the area, established in 1788 a few miles up the road.Roberts Presbyterian Church followed in 1789 and has also been known as Simpsons Meetinghouse, for the first preacher, Reverend John Simpson.The Sandy Springs Methodist Camp was established in 1825, with the St. Johns Methodist Church soon to follow in 1828.

The city of Anderson was founded in 1826 when Anderson County was created from the old-style Anderson District, though not incorporated until 1833 by an act of the South Carolina legislature.The original log county courthouse was replaced and the town continued to grow.

Maize and hogs were among the main economic staples of the area for much of the 19th century.The use of cotton as a cash crop came much later in this area when mills began popping up all over the county along railroad lines in the mid to late part of the century.

The town has had several colleges on the same centrally located site since 1858 when the Johnson Female University was founded.University hill functioned as a Confederate treasury branch during the Civil War.Afterwards, in 1866, the Collegiate Institute was founded.Instruction continued for twenty years, only to be replaced by the Patrick Military Institute in 1887 until the turn of the century.The site finally became the site of the University Hospital in the 1920s. In 1889 Clemson University, one of the top public schools in the nation, was founded with a grant from Thomas Green Clemson.

The first textile plant came to Anderson in 1888, to take advantage of the fast moving Rocky River.An early form of hydroelectric power for a municipal area was made possible in 1895 when William Whitner created a turbine for for the McFalls Mill, 6 miles east on the Rocky River.This caused Anderson to be called "The Electric City" as the first one of its kind in North America.With excess capacity than their mill needs called for, they sold the power and transferred it through a central control station along linesFor the first time, the industry of a small town could have electric power!A larger plant was moved 11 miles down the road to Portman Shoals, also on the Rocky River, two years later.
From this larger plant, Oliver Bolts Cotton Gin became the first to use an electric motor powered over long-distance lines, as he contracted with the newly formed, water, light and power company.Having previously been outfitted with a steam-powered motor, this demonstrated conversion got larger mills interested.Mills began springing up to take advantage of the innovation.The town grew quickly as people moved in to take advantage of the mill and factory jobs opening up in the Anderson area.

Today Anderson is conveniently located midway between Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, on Interstate 85; linking the town to a steady stream of inter-city commerce in that fast growing region.With its proximity to property in Greenville County, Anderson real estate remains affordable but steadily rising.There are plenty of available rentals, with an overabundance of rental property in the area.The number of home residents in Anderson is steadily increasing.

Anderson SC Real Estate Listings

NEWest Anderson Real Estate Listings