Pelzer, South Carolina
| Pelzer, South Carolina | |
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| Town | |
Top, left to right: South Carolina Highway 8, Saluda River, Pelzer Primary School, Pelzer Presbyterian Church
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 Pelzer
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| Coordinates: 34°38.6′N 82°27.6′W / 34.6433°N 82.4600°WCoordinates: 34°38.6′N 82°27.6′W / 34.6433°N 82.4600°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | South Carolina |
| County | Anderson |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) |
| • Land | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 751 ft (229 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 89 |
| • Density | 483/sq mi (186.4/km2) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 29669 |
| Area code(s) | 864 |
| FIPS code | 45-55465 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1231641 |
| Website | www |
Pelzer is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States, along the Saluda River. The population was 89 at the 2010 census.
As of 2010 the town was governed by a mayor and four council members.
Pelzer was founded in the 19th Century as a mill town around several mill sites (the Lower Mill and the Upper Mill) on the Saluda River developed by the Pelzer Manufacturing Company. The first (lower) mill was completed in 1882; two additional expansions were referred to as mills 2 and 3, with construction of the 4th mill (the upper mill) starting in 1896. Pelzer Manufacturing drew power from two dams built along the Saluda River, which generated power with the help of the first generators ever sold by General Electric. The factory was the first in the country to use incandescent lighting.
The company and town were named for Francis J. Pelzer, who surveyed sites along the river and laid out the town and was along with William Lebby and Ellison A. Smyth one of the founders of Pelzer Manufacturing. The first president and treasurer of the company was Ellison Adger Smyth, who held the corporate titles for 43 years. When Smyth decided to build the fourth mill, he initially selected a site four miles downriver from the town along a shoal, necessitating construction of a new mill town. Eventually, however, Smyth decided to build a new mill at Pelzer and began construction at the Upper Mill site, with power generation coming from the downsteam shoals and dam. This was the first instance of a mill in South Carolina not built immediately adjacent to its power generation facility; Smyth contracted General Electric to build the power lines between the new dam and the existing town, a first in the industry that many competitors argued was doomed to fail. Smyth allowed GE to use the new Upper Mill as a testing ground for new electric generators and motors, which initially cost Pelzer Manufacturing money and made the new mill a money loser for several years, though it did become profitable in time.
All four mills were designed and built by the architecture firm Lockwood, Greene & Co. Pelzer Manufacturing was sold in 1923 and the mills changed hands several times. The final functional owner was Gerber Products Company, which bought the mills in 1986 and made Onesies and other childrenswear until 1990, when the company ceased operations at Pelzer and moved all clothing manufacturing overseas. The mill properties were bought by Greenlight Enterprises, which destroyed the upper mill in 2004; the lower mill burned in 2012 and 2014. In 2013, the Pelzer Heritage Commission bought both mill sites.
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