Parker High School Centennial
If you grew up in Greenville and were born the same decade as my mom, you probably remember Parker High School. Alumni will celebrate it’s 100th birthday May 11th. Check-in is from 1-1:45pm with the ceremony beginning at 2pm, cost $20/person. The sign out front reads Legacy Charter, but there’s still a purple reminder of the first school that stood on those grounds.

Parker High School opened its’ doors to 454 children in 1923. In a time when Greenville was the “Textile Center of the World,” the area was surrounded by mill communities. These mill hills, as they were affectionately called, existed as little towns around the mill. My grandfather grew up in Camperdown and neither of his parents drove. They didn’t need to. Daily life was within walking distance. Most mill villages had elementary schools, but there were no high schools. Parker High School was established to meet the need for free education for older children in the mill villages. It was named for co-founder and Monaghan Mill president, Thomas Parker. Along with the existing elementary schools serving the mill hill families, it became a part of the Parker Unified School District.

Driving into town from the north, you’ve probably seen the large bronze man (a.k.a.statue of Pete Hollis) standing at the corner of Rutherford and Buncombe Streets. Buncombe Street was renamed Pete Hollis Highway. L.P. Hollis was the first superintendent of the Parker Unified School District. Hollis was well known throughout the School District. His love of the mill hill kids was obvious to everyone he met. You can hop the shrubs at McDonald’s and read just how much he meant to the community!
Fun Fact: Mill President Parker organized a YMCA in 1904 and a YWCA in 1907 in Greenville. Pete Hollis , USC YMCA director, was hired by Parker to run the Y facilities in Greenville.

The Parker High School Auditorium was built in 1938 and is the only original building that remains on the grounds. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places October 9th, 2000.
Through the years, Parker High School served eleven mill communities. The school was listed as a Top 10 school by the National Education Association five times! To date, it’s the only high school in South Carolina to achieve that distinction five times.
(Personal)Fun Fact: My mom earned a PHD (Parker High Diploma). She has fond memories of Thanksgivings during her high school years. Not for the tasty turkey and dressing the family shared, but the PHS Turkey Day Tradition. Students converged onto Sirrine Stadium for the annual football game between PHS and cross-town rival, Greenville High School. Girls dressed in wool suits (dress codes in school then didn’t even allow girls to wear pants), heels and flesh colored hose. They proudly wore yellow corsages the size of their heads with huge purple pipe cleaner Ps in the center. After the game, the victors cruised Main Street, hands waving and horns blowing.
Sadly, as mills began to lay-off workers, families moved away. When Woodside Mill closed in 1984, Parker High School was not far behind. The final graduation ceremony was held June 7, 1985. Parker became a junior high school in the fall of that year and remained one until 2004. When old rival, Greenville High School was renovated, the students met in the PHS buildings until remodeling was complete. Once the Greenville student body moved home, the buildings stood empty.

In 2010, local entrepreneur and financier, William Brown, purchased the PHS property and the nearby Fine Arts Center on behalf of his Campbell Young Leaders Foundation. Brown’s passion for educating and empowering West Greenville students to be “all they can be” led to the opening of Legacy Charter School. The school adopted PHS purple and gold as their school colors.
A Parker Museum will be built on the campus, much to the delight of Greenville PHD (Parker High Diploma) holders.
Monies from the May event will be used toward the Parker Museum, so don’t forget to mark your calendars!

Food Note (pun intended): Can’t publish a piece on Parker without mentioning Northgate Soda Shop. Here alumni meet regularly to relive the glory days. Or that’s the excuse they offer. It’s really because they crave the fabulous food Ren Bell and his staff serve with a smile! Pro Tip: order the Pimento Cheeseburger plate and thank us later!