"G" is for Greer [Greenville County; population 16, 843]. Situated midway between Greenville and Spartanburg, the city of Greer originated along the line of the Richmond and Danville Air Line Railway. In 1873, the railroad instituted a stop on Manning Greer’s property and the site became known as Greer’s Dept, Greer’s Station, and then Greers.
The town was incorporated in 1876, but the "s" was not dropped from its name until 1976. In 1992, BMW selected the town as the site of its first complete automobile manufacturing facility outside Germany. The plant opened in 1994 and was hailed as the crowning achievement of the state’s recruiting of foreign manufacturers. Due in large measure to the arrival of the BMW facility, by the 1990s, Greer had become one of fastest growing cities in South Carolina.
