Members of the Laughinghouse family riding an open buggy across the wooden bridge crossing the Tar River. (Approx. 1900) Courtesy of East Carolina Manuscript Collection, East Carolina University.

The first county court sessions were held at the home of John Hardee. Shown here in 1920, the Hardee home was located off present-day Route 33/10th Street extension near Brook Valley. Courtesy of East Carolina University Manuscript Collection.

This image from 1910 shows a bustling Evans Street looking north. Courtesy of The Greenville Album: A Bicentennial Book.

Residents of Greenville have been passionate about baseball since the late 19th century. Members of the Greenville Greenies baseball team are shown above in this 1920s photo. Courtesy of Louise Duncan.

This pre-1910 image of the Pitt County Courthouse provides a glimpse into life at that time as it includes a barefoot boy, a sign for the circus, and the old water “stand pipe” beside the courthouse. Courtesy of Thurman Moore collection.

This photo above is the front page of the first edition of The Reflector (now The Daily Reflector) from 1882.

In this 1903 photo, the King Family prepares to take their buggy for a ride in Greenville. Courtesy of Virginia Perkins.

Members of the Greenville Police Department are shown in this photo from 1927. Courtesy of Greenville Police.

The vibrant downtown area included a variety of businesses such as the J.R. and J.G. Moye department store located on Evans Street. Taken in 1915, this photo showed the diversity of what was sold there. Courtesy of Jimmy Cowan.

Built in 1914, White’s Theatre was a stage and movie entertainment venue downtown. In 1930, the theatre transitioned away from stage entertainment to talking pictures-feature films and the name was changed to State Theatre. In 1971, the name was changed to Park Theatre and remained Park Theatre until 1999. In 1999 the name was changed to Carmike Cinemas. The building was bought by the Greenville Redevelopment Commission in 2008 and sat empty until reopening in 2019 as the State Theatre, a live music venue. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Charles Montgomery Eppes, front row center, was a significant educational leader in Greenville. From 1903 to 1942, Eppes served as the Supervising Principal and teacher of the Colored Schools of Greenville. Courtesy of Candace Pearce-Roger Kammerer Photo Collection.

New aldermen for the City of Greenville are sworn into office in this photo from 1950. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

During a Farmers Day Festival in 1954, a crowd gathers in downtown Greenville for a square dance. Courtesy of The Daily Reflector.

Santa Claus waves to the crowd in downtown Greenville as part of the Christmas parade in 1959. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

In 1960, the East Carolina Art Society and the Greenville Women’s Club purchased the old Graham Flanagan home at 802 Evans Street to be the Greenville Art Center. The same home still serves as the Greenville Museum of Art. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

An aerial image of the Shore Drive neighborhood along the Tar River from the early 1960s is included above. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Members of the C.M. Eppes High School cheerleading team are pictured in front of the school in this photo from 1964. During segregation, Eppes served as the high school for African Americans. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

The Sheppard Memorial Library Bookmobile began serving residents decades ago as shown by this image from the 1950s. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Construction on the Town Common bulkhead took place in 1968 . Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

This image from 1962 shows a Greenville Police officer monitoring speed along a city roadway. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Greenville High School cheerleaders post for a photo in this image from 1965. Courtesy of the J. Thomas Forrest Collection.

City of Greenville residents wait in line to vote at a Greenville Fire Station in this photo from 1960. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

In 1969, the Sycamore Hill Baptist Church was destroyed by a fire The church moved to a location on Eighth Street after the fire, and today it is located on Hooker Road. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Young protesters gathered in the street in this photo from 1971. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Just after 7 a.m. on January 14, 1973, an explosion caused significant damage to the Union Carbide Plant in Greenville. Courtesy of J. Thomas Forrest Collection.

In the above image, the front page of The Daily Reflector on October 6, 1974 is shown with references to Greenville’s 200th anniversary.

This image from 1975 shows a group organized for a Southern Christian Leadership Conference protest in Greenville for Joan Little, who was accused of murder in neighboring Beaufort County. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

The tobacco market was still popular in Greenville in the 1980s as shown here in this photo. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

In March of 1983, tragedy struck when a gas leak caused an explosion at the Village Green Apartments. One person was killed, and 12 others were injured. In this image, investigators search through the remaining rubble. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Dr. Earl Trevathan served as a member of Greenville City Council, Pitt County Health Director and was a local conservation pioneer as a member of the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club. His name is on the county’s public health building and he also helped found East Carolina University’s medical school.

A worker with the City of Greenville clears snow from the downtown sidewalks following a storm in 1989. Courtesy of J. Thomas Forrest.

Greenville residents prepare to board the GREAT Bus in this image from 1989. Courtesy of the City of Greenville.

The Peach Bowl of 1992 produced one of the biggest wins in the history of ECU football as the Pirates defeated N.C. State. Fans celebrated the big victory in myriad ways, including this parade down Cotanche Street. Courtesy of ECU Digital Collections.

Greenville hosted an International Festival for many years to celebrate the diversity of the community. This photo was taken during the 1997 event. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

The Evans Street Pedestrian Mall was opened back up to vehicular traffic in June of 1999. This photo from 1998 shows the start of the transformation process. Courtesy of the City of Greenville.

The old Greene Street Bridge was relocated and replaced by the City of Greenville in the 1990s. This image shows the process of taking apart the bridge that crosses the Tar River. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

The City of Greenville holds its annual Spring Clean Up with volunteers joining together to clean up city streets and right-of-ways. In this photo from 2000, three volunteers clean in university neighborhood. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

Just as they did in 1998, City officials held a recognition ceremony at Elm Street Park for its 2017 Little League All Star Team that made Greenville’s second ever trip to the Little League World Series. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

PirateFest, an annual festival held in downtown Greenville, began in 2007 as part of East Carolina University’s centennial celebration. A pirate performance on Evans Street is shown above during the 2018 PirateFest. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

For the first time, the City of Greenville held a New Year’s Celebration with the Emerald Drop Countdown on December 31, 2019 at the Town Common. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

In December of 2020, a group of local artists joined to paint a mural on First Street near the Town Common. The message, seen in the aerial shot above, remained there until the street was resurfaced the following year. Courtesy of City of Greenville.

Snow in Greenville often leads to locals visiting the downtown area to slide down a hill near Reade Street. In this photo from 2022, someone snowboards down the hill. Courtesy of City of Greenville.