During their regular monthly meeting Monday, Williamston Town Council approved a recommendation from a five person committee to have a portion of Greenville Drive designated as Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Drive.
The committee, comprised of Councilmen Tony Hagood and Mike Looper, Ted Mattison, Steve Ellison and Frank Major, recommended that the town proceed with the renaming, which will not change the designation as Greenville Drive, but will name a stretch of Greenville Drive with signs posted at both ends.
Speaking for the committee, Mattison said they took suggestions from citizens and eventually decided that naming Greenville Drive for King is appropriate because the area was a black business district of Williamston between the 1920’s and 1050’s. “It was a booming area for black businesses,” Mattison said.
Council approved the recommendation 4-0 with Councilman David Harvell abstaining. The town will ask the Anderson County Legislative Delegation if they will make that change. Harvell said after the meeting he thought the mayor should talk with members of the Earl Wooten family about the street designation.
Hwy. 20 from the Anderson County line to near the connection with Hwy. 29 has already been designated as the Earl Wooten memorial highway. The section being renamed will be a section of Greenville Dr. that is in the middle of the Hwy. 29 stretch that recognizes Wooten, a legendary sports figure of the Williamston, Pelzer area.
The designations for naming a strecth of highway must be approved by the state legislature.
