Slater-Marietta

History

J. Harvey Cleveland, born in 1815, invested in land in northern Greenville County, including a tract along the North Saluda River which he bought from his father-in-law about 1840. Cleveland expanded the simple home on the property and made it his family home. He also plotted a nearby settlement, named "Marietta" after his wife, Mary Louisa Williams. In 1927, the Slater family announced they would build a mill nearby and a Slater village around it, on land bought from Cleveland family members. The new Slater Mill opened in 1928, was very successful, and overwhelmed the two communities, which became referred to as Slater-Marietta. In 1946, the Slaters sold their mill to J.P. Stevens & Company, and the J.P. Stevens' Slater Plant went on to produce the main material for the space suits used on the first Moon landing in 1969 as well as Space Shuttle components. In 2016, JPS Composite Materials owned the mill, which was mainly producing fiber glass, and sold it to B&W Fiber Glass.

Geography

Marietta is located in northern Greenville County. The CDP consists of two adjoining communities, both unincorporated: Slater and Marietta. Each community has its own post office and ZIP Code. U.S. Route 276 passes through Marietta, while Slater is directly to the east. US 276 leads south to Greenville and northwest to the North Carolina border at the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. South Carolina Highway 288 leads west from Marietta to Pumpkintown. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.14%, are water.

Race & ethnicity