Greenville was founded in 1824 by William W. Blanton, who filed for land from the United States government who granted him section four, township eighteen, range eight west. This plot is now most of downtown Greenville. It belonged to the Roach and Blanton families.The current city of Greenville is the third in the State to bear the name. The first, located down near Natchez, died out right after the American Revolution. The second, is the parent city to the present one. It was named by its founders for General Nathanael Greene, beloved friend of George Washington, for whom the county was named. This second city was located three miles from the present site, where today stands Greenville's Industrial fill. The second town was a thriving hamlet in the days before the Civil War. It formed the business and cultural center for the large cotton plantations that surrounded it. The town was destroyed during the siege of Vicksburg when troops from a Union gunboat landed, and when fired upon, burned every building. The inhabitants took refuge in plantation homes of the area. When the war ended, veterans of Mississippi regiments found Greenville in a state of ruin.These men rested, but not for long. They had been defeated in battle but not in spirit. They met in twos and threes and finally en-mass and decided to build again. The place chosen was the highest point on the Mississippi River between the towns of Vicksburg and Memphis. The major part of the area selected was on the property owned by Mrs. Harriet Blanton Theobald. She welcomed the idea of a new Greenville and gave land for schools and churches and public buildings, earning the name of the “Mother of Greenville”.