Brutontown Community

Originally named Bruton Town, the Brutontown Community was a black settlement off Poinsett Highway and Paris Mountain Road that dates back to the 1800s. As the community grew and diversified, many residents left the farms for jobs in manufacturing and the mills. In the 1970s the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority began to renovate Brutontown, with the Authority purchasing a former army barracks where the Greenville County Recreation District established a community center program. A new community center was built in 1994 through a partnership between the agencies. In 2002 the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority committed $15 million to additional renovations in the community, building a new center with a gymnasium, kitchen, computer room and outdoor playground on Leo Lewis Street that opened in 2008. Additionally, the Authority worked with local planners and builders on an affordable housing initiative that will bring 90 new homes to the Brutontown Community. In this video, GCRA Executive Director Martin Livingston talks about the revitalization of Brutontown and affordable housing initiatives of the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority during a community open house where an historic marker for Brutontown was unveiled. Also in this video, Joey Freeman, coordinator at Brutontown Community Center, talks about center programs available to children and adults in the community.