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Benjamin E Mays Historic Site

5.0 (1 review)
Closed • 9:00 am - 2:30 pm

Benjamin E Mays Historic Site Photos

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The Museum

The Museum

4.0(1 review)
1.3 mi

Interesting museum including exhibits on Greenwood history and other collections…read more Admission is free and the museum is kid friendly as well. The ground level features panels about Greenwood and South Carolina history, including local Native American history, early settlers, and history up until the early twentieth century. There's also a theatre, a dry goods store, and a hat shop, all which were neat to walk into and look around. There was also space up front that was empty at the time. Downstairs there is some more local and non-local history exhibits. Upstairs there was a display about Self Regional which had a variety of interesting medical items. There was also a room about gems and minerals, a mine (which was very cool to walk through!) and an animal exhibit. There was also an art exhibit featuring artwork from local elementary school students. I really enjoyed the exhibits specific to Greenwood history, but also felt like there was quite a bit of empty space. The museum has an elevator to access all three floors. Because we came in March, the railroad center wasn't open, but we hope to see that the next time we're in town.

From the owner: The Museum's mission is to Save, Share and Celebrate Greenwood's History. We do this in two…read morelocations: The Museum on the north end of up-town Greenwood, and the Railroad Historical Center on the southern end of the up-town. The Musuem features permanent collections and exhibits relevant to the area and the people from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The permanent exhibits include replicas of stores in downtown Greenwood circa 1910, and are interactive as well as educational; kids especially like the train station and the Millinery shop! We also have seasonal exhibits highlighting local people and institutions of historical significance, and a summer exhibit that is aimed at being fun, educational, and with relevancy beyond our local area (Dinosaur Discovery last year, and Sonic Sensations this coming summer). Join us Sseptember 22 for our annual Dinner on the Diner! Dinner, an original play featuring a train heist, The Railroad Historical Center showcases a historic 1906 Baldwin steam Engine, and 6 cars. All but one are totally restored to their period of use, and the final car's restoration is in the works. In fact, our collection of historic cars is the largest, and most accurately restored static display in upstate S.C.!

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The Museum
The Museum
The Museum - The Museum's Gem and Mineral room

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The Museum's Gem and Mineral room

Main Street Children's Museum

Main Street Children's Museum

4.1(15 reviews)
81.0 mi

The museum is small but cute. Best for children 2 - 4 years old. Most of the front desk staff are…read morewelcoming. But the staff in the back must not have children. I'm not sure that they even like children. When my older children were little, I used to bring them and that staff would interact with the kids and parents. Most of this staff just sits on side, ignoring children and adults. There is one lady, Miss Wendy that all of my kids love, but she's not there very much. They had an event this weekend and I am glad that we went in the afternoon. My friend got turned away in the morning only an hour after they opened. She said that staff very rudely told her that she should have gotten there earlier. Her children were heartbroken. They did have some people, mainly teenagers with volunteer name tags who were very nice. My little adored the older gentleman who played with him. They had the upstairs set up really cute with a Winnie-the-Pooh exhibit. But unfortunately, they said that it would only be there for that day. They had friendly teens in that space playing with the kids. Admission is not worth it, but their membership is a good value because it includes other museums.

It's ok. I'll leave it at that. It's a lot smaller than I expected and there really wasn't too much…read moreto do. I think the best age for this museum is under 3. My 4 year old got bored pretty quickly. There also just wasn't a lot to do. There is a dress up area, but it only had a few items, same with the kitchen and pirate ship. I have to agree with another reviewer that the staff wasn't friendly. They were more concerned with everything getting cleaned up. iI's a children's museum - there's supposed to be a level of mess, but when a kid puts a doll at the table and then goes to the kitchen area and you put the doll back, maybe think "was that kid getting food to play feed the doll?"and not assume they were leaving it. Also, parents - there's an overpriced gift/toy section in the front that you can't avoid. Bright side - there's some fun lunch and treat spots close by.

Photos
Main Street Children's Museum - Entrance, personalized welcome sign

Entrance, personalized welcome sign

Main Street Children's Museum - The kitchen/house play area. Not a lot of items to use - or many are out of reach for any kid.

The kitchen/house play area. Not a lot of items to use - or many are out of reach for any kid.

Main Street Children's Museum - Kitchen play area. Kind of bare.

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Kitchen play area. Kind of bare.

Upcountry History Museum - One of several facades of historic buildings of significance in the museum

Upcountry History Museum

4.5(21 reviews)
47.8 mi

Manageable and serviceable museum at best. While small things are able to pack a punch. This one…read morefalls a bit short. We travelled 7 hours to see the special Nightmare Before Christmas exhibit which was mis-marketed and was very sad. We're it not for the Looney Tunes special exhibition, we would have to have given one-star. That was the highlight of the trip. It was so neat to see the original artwork and this was well-dosplayed and well-light. In comparison... The NBC display was in the back of a corridor and the artwork, which is dark to begin with was not well-lit and unable to be seen fully...

Located in the Heritage Green museum area of Greenville, the Upcountry History Museum is the…read moreperfect small city museum. It has well laid out and informative permanent exhibits, giving you a great overview of the history of the region without it being information overload. They have a fairly large theater that plays a film if you're not too interested in walking around the exhibits. It's fairly compact in size, so you can visit both floors quickly if you are in a rush, or take an hour or two depending on your level of interest. They have several rotating special exhibits, which I feel is essential to keeping things fresh and encourages repeat visits. On my visit, I found both the special exhibits on the Avengers and Lady Bird Johnson to be of excellent quality. However, there was a dinosaur exhibit which I felt was of poor quality and not very informative, and it seemed to be more of an area for younger kids to play rather than have visitors learn. They are setting up to have a Looney Toons special exhibit some time in the next year. There is a small gift and cafeteria area with vending machines on premises. They participate in the Bank of America Museums on Us program, providing complimentary visits to cardholders the first full weekend of every month. Overall, I'd rate the Upcountry History Museum a 4.5 stars out of 5 for a small city museum, but happy to round up since I enjoyed my visit and found it vastly superior to the Greenville County Museum of Art a few minutes away.

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Upcountry History Museum - The Mansion House was a popular hotel that once stood on Main St.

The Mansion House was a popular hotel that once stood on Main St.

Upcountry History Museum
Upcountry History Museum

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Benjamin E Mays Historic Site - museums - Updated May 2026

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