From These Roots

Extension centers were not new to North Greenville in the 1970s. In the 1960s, North Greenville had an extension center in Greer that offered evening classes for adults who could not attend day classes in Tigerville. In the fall of 1973, North Greenville opened an extension center in Greenville. The location chosen for the program was some space in the Wade Hampton Mall on Wade Hampton Boulevard where there had been a Draughon’s Business College.

Harry L. Thomas served as the director of the new program and NGC officials expected an enrollment of about 50 students in the first semester. Students were able to take nearly any class at the Greenville campus that they could take at the Tigerville campus except for laboratory science courses and music courses. Students could take classes at night or during the day making the schedule flexible for working adults. Word of the new NGC location spread and the final registration numbers doubled the original expectations with 100 students.

It was only a few years before North Greenville College at Greenville outgrew the Wade Hampton Mall location. In 1977, Rev. T. Walter Brashier purchased the old Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Greenville to house the North Greenville at Greenville campus. The Chamber of Commerce Building was built in 1924-1925 and sits across the street from The Poinsett Hotel. The more prominent location brought more attention to the school from an area of the county where many had never even heard of Tigerville. Classes were held in the building until 1984.