Falls Park on the Reedy

 

If you ask for directions and someone tells you “down at the park,” they probably mean Falls Park on the Reedy. Even though it is by no means our only or our biggest park, it is our downtown park, created in what is generally considered the very spot that Mr. Vardry McBee erected his gristmill (a gristmill being where folks grind grain into flour). So to turn the wheels of progress, Mr. McBee needed running water, and the Reedy River had it.

Today, water still has power as it draws us all downtown to stroll along the banks of the river, walk our furry four-legged friends and spread a picnic with our friends and family. The park has dozens of small gardens within it that bloom through the collaborative efforts of many of the town’s citizens and offer natural beauty all year round.

Falls Park also sees wooden sword-wielding kings during the Upstate Shakespeare Festival, families sprawled out in front of classic movies shown under the stars two months out of the year, and thousands of brides, prom-goers and nature lovers as it serves as the backdrop for special occasions again and again.

Overhead, the 345-foot expanse of our remarkable Liberty Bridge connects downtown to the West End as much as it does our past to our present. Spanning the Reedy River, there is literally nothing like this bridge in the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Built to reveal the falls and stand like a sculpture, the concrete reinforced deck has a distinctive curve and is supported by a single suspension cable with supporting cables on the outside.

Greenville's Falls Park on the Reedy has been named a “Top U.S. Park” by TripAdvisor several years in a row, along with the likes of Central Park and Golden Gate Park.