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HOA Management in Powdersville, SC

Located in the picturesque foothills of upstate South Carolina, the town of Powdersville allows an easy commute to nearby Greenville, Easley, or Anderson.

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With roots as a farming community, Powdersville has retained its small-town feel despite its rapid growth in the past decades. Today, the town is known for its excellent schools and rural surroundings and William Douglas Property Management is committed to helping residents balance growth and tradition. If your Powdersville-based community is looking for new HOA Management, contact us today to learn about our individualized management strategies.

Powdersville SC Facts

Powdersville, South Carolina, is an unincorporated area in Anderson County. Being an unincorporated area, the U.S. Census Bureau classifies Powdersville as a census-designated place (CDP). Since the area is not incorporated and there are no defined borders or city limits of a CDP, the Census Bureau establishes these parameters. These parameters may or may not represent what the population living within the CDP consider their area to be. The CDP for Powdersville, as defined by the Census Bureau, is a total area of 13.88 square miles. Of these 13.88 square miles, the zip codes for Powdersville are 29611, 29642, and 29673. The area code is 864.

Powdersville is around 10 miles from downtown Greenville. The 2010 U.S. Census population for Powdersville was 7,618.

The name “Powders” originated from the area having a history of producing and selling gunpowder.

In 1859, John Bowen constructed a gunpowder mill in what is now present-day Powdersville. One of the first general stores was named the Powdersville Area General Store.

The Pickens County line is generally considered the northwest border of Powdersville; the northeast border is the Saluda River, which constitutes the Greenville County line. U.S. Interstate 85 is considered the southeast border.

Population per 2010 Census: 7,618

Male population: 48.2%

Female population: 51.2%

Population under 18 years: 23.9%

Per the United States 2010 Census Bureau for Powdersville

Population 65 years & over: 12.3%

Median home value 2015-2019: $188,300

Owner-occupied: 75.4%

Bachelor’s degree or higher 2015-2019: 31.8%

Total households 2015-2019: 3,515

High school graduate or higher 2015-2019: 90.8%

As of the 2012 U.S. Census, there were 771 firms or businesses within the Powdersville CDP.

History

British colonization of South Carolina began in the 17th century. This early colonization was typically limited to the coastal areas of the state, primarily Charles Towne (Charleston). In the mid-18th-century, colonization of the Carolina backcountry increased exponentially.

With this backcountry colonization, the establishment of law and order was lacking. To facilitate a more efficient and effective rule of law, the colonial governor established seven judicial districts throughout South Carolina in 1769. These judicial districts covered modern-day South Carolina, with the exception of the upper western part of the state which was the Cherokee tribe’s territory. This territory would become the South Carolina counties of Greenville, Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens. The Cherokee territory would remain in control of the Cherokee tribe until the American Revolution.

Before and during the American Revolution, the Cherokees were contending with settler territorial encroachments. This led to the Cherokee siding with the British. As a result, in 1776 the Cherokee tribe – allying with other Native American tribes – attacked Patriot settlers in South Carolina and bordering states. In retaliation, militia and Continental soldiers began attacking villages in the Cherokee territory and other areas inhabited by Native Americans. Almost all Native American villages were destroyed and crops burned in the region. This bloody conflict resulted in the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner in May of 1777. In this treaty, the Cherokee people relinquished territorial land in North Carolina and almost all of their territory in South Carolina. This Cherokee territory in South Carolina comprised most of modern-day Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens counties.

After the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1784, the former Cherokee territory was divided into parcels and sold to settlers. In 1826, the South Carolina General Assembly formed Anderson County because of the increased settlement of the area. The county was named for Revolutionary War militia leader General Robert Anderson (1741 – 1813). Anderson, then a colonel, fought at the Battle of Cowpens and served under Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. He fought with General Andrew Pickens during the Cherokee uprising of 1776. Anderson benefited from the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner by acquiring 2,100 acres in the former Cherokee territory: modern-day Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties.

These early settlers to the former Cherokee territory were subsistence farmers in large part. This all began to change just before the turn of the 19th century, with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin is a machine that efficiently separates the cotton fiber from the cotton’s seed and husk. Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1794.

The invention of the cotton gin turned the labor-intensive aspect of cotton cultivation into a very profitable cash crop. Before the cotton gin, the tedious process of removing the cotton fiber from the seed and husk had to be done by hand and was labor-intensive. The tragic consequence of the cotton gin invention was the increase in the slavery of African Americans.

The effects of the cotton gin on cotton cultivation can be best expressed in the increased cotton production. In the state of South Carolina in 1793, the year before the cotton gin patent, cotton production only totaled 94,000 pounds. In 1800, only seven years later, that production had increased to 6,500,000 pounds just in the South Carolina upcountry. Within ten years, the entire state of South Carolina produced 50,000,000 pounds of cotton in 1810.

Nonetheless, in areas of the former Cherokee territory with limited transportation means, before the introduction of railroads and substantial roads, more corn and wheat were produced than cotton. Around the mid-1800s, as roads improved and train transportation was introduced, cotton cultivation increased in Anderson County and the Powdersville area.

After the American Civil War, cotton cultivation increased in South Carolina. This increase was especially prevalent in the counties of Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg. Cotton production increased by 45% from 1860 to 1880 within South Carolina, which eventually led to a glut and falling prices. In 1886 and 1887, this oversupply led to economic hardships for farmers and over a million acres of farmland being seized for unpaid taxes. One consequence of this cotton bust was cotton farmers leaving their farms and obtaining jobs in the many developing textile mills in the region. One benefit of the cotton glut, however, was the forced abandonment of the one-crop business model.

The rural agricultural economic base of the Powdersville area continued into the 20th century. Farmers benefited from the improved road network and access to train transportation, as this increase crop production and thus profits. As it did for almost all Americans, the Great Depression had a major impact on farmers in the region. Problems with falling agriculture prices were compounded by overproduction. The Roosevelt Administration’s New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (AAA) provided relief to farmers in the way of subsidies and production quotas.

Raising cotton in South Carolina in general, and most certainly Powdersville, began to decline after World War II. Cotton production in the region was being weakened by the new synthetic fibers and the international cultivation of cotton. Synthetic polyester’s use in apparel textile production became so prevalent that by 1980, polyester fiber outsold cotton fiber domestically.

There was a slow but steady decline in agricultural output in Powdersville. However, within the last thirty years farmland replaced not with other crops, but with residential developments. The convenient proximity to the city of Greenville has turned Powdersville into a bedroom community. The biggest challenge to the people in the Powdersville area seems to be managing the population growth.

Bethesda United Methodist Church, founded in 1833, is the oldest church in Powdersville.

Education

The public school system is through Anderson County School District Once and has the following schools: Concrete Primary School, Powdersville Elementary School, Powdersville Middle School, and Powdersville High School.

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