SC park that was once a dump and animal crematory gets shout-out from Ebony magazine. Here’s why
Greenville’s Unity Park finally gets its due in a national publication.
Ebony magazine lifestyle writer DeAnna Taylor spent a weekend in Greenville and found Greenville’s newest park “literally one of the most gorgeous parks we’ve seen.”
“On any given day, you’ll see families playing with their kids on the playgrounds or tossing footballs, runners and bikes taking advantage of the park’s trails or even those who just want to ground in nature,” she wrote.
Greenville’s Falls Park on the Reedy usually gets the hype — and she does mention its “soothing waterfalls and tons of open space.”
Unity Park quite simply was a 100-year-old promise to the black community made good.
The land where the 60-acre, $60 million park is located once was a stockade, a public incinerator, a landfill and finally a maintenance shed for garbage trucks and other city vehicles. Part of it was Mayberry Park, which city documents describe as being for “Negro children.”
Unity Park is the park Black residents pleaded with city leaders for decades to build.
Greenville City Council member Lillian Brock Flemming, who represents the area, calls it long delayed justice for a community long ignored.
Taylor said Greenville has “the perfect balance of old town feels — as evidenced by its Main Street corridor — meets modern day metropolis.”
She went to the BMW Performance Center, and various downtown shops and restaurants. One she found particularly interesting was Keipi Restaurant, where “patrons are taken through a multi course feast that includes lots of toasts while also being willing to do deeper with your conversation.”
“The Tamada (the dinner leader), the table is asked to speak about various themes chosen by the host throughout the night, and end each with a celebratory toast,” she wrote. “We laughed, cried and drank lots of native wines during our dinner and let’s just say, the way we approach dinner conversations will never be the same.”
The stores mentioned were Greenville Soy Candles, M Judson Booksellers and Old Europe Coffee and Desserts.
“We must admit, the city pleasantly surprised us, especially as far as its fun bars and places to grab cocktails,” Taylor wrote.
She mentioned Limoncello’s, AC Hotel rooftop bar Juniper and Press Room.
She also took a tour with Black History in Greenville Tours, known as B.H.i.G. Tours. Sites on the tour include the historic John Wesley United Methodist Church, a building where a black Greenville doctor practiced in the 1930s, and a statue commemorating Sterling High School, whose graduates include Jesse Jackson and numerous other civil rights leaders.
This story was originally published June 8, 2024 at 6:00 AM.