Greenwood

Greenwood, county, western South Carolina, U.S. It consists of a hilly piedmont region bordered to the northeast by Lake Greenwood, which is impounded on the Saluda River by Buzzard Roost Dam. Lake Greenwood State Park and a portion of Sumter National Forest are within the county’s borders.

The Ninety Six National Historic Site commemorates an 18th-century trading centre at a junction of Indian paths and colonial roads. During the U.S. War of Independence the area was a Tory stronghold. The war’s first battle in South Carolina was fought in 1775 at the Ninety Six fort; six years later a 28-day patriot assault finally drove out the British. The area was a cotton-growing region until soil erosion, boll weevil infestations, and economic changes led to its becoming largely forested after the mid-20th century. Greenwood county was established in 1897; the city of Greenwood is the county seat.

Agriculture (cattle and eggs), lumbering, and industry (clothing and other textile products and electronic and technical equipment) form the basis of the economy. Area 456 square miles (1,180 square km). Pop. (2000) 66,309; (2010) 69,661.