Cobblestone's Closest Stretch of the Enoree Runs Past an 1820 Mill Site

From Cobblestone, the nearest place to stand over moving water on the Enoree River is a masonry dam on the site of Greenville District's first cotton factory. Google Maps puts Pelham Mill Park about 12 minutes and 5 miles from Cobblestone Road by way of Pelham Road. A route over I-85 is a little longer in miles and takes about the same time.

In September, a new trail opened on the east side, and part of the reason it was built is to someday reach that same river. For now it stops short. So this fall, the closest public spot on the Enoree is still the oldest one. The newest one is a down payment on a river connection that exists mostly as a plan.

Two Centuries at the Shoals

Pelham Mill Park is at 2770 E. Phillips Road, near the Highway 14 and I-85 interchange by Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. Greenville County Parks, Recreation and Tourism describes it as a rustic, passive park. Its main features are a dog park, a masonry dam and overlook, the ruins of the old mill, and a view of the Enoree's shoals tumbling below.

The ruins have a long record behind them. The site's National Register nomination and Furman University's special collections lay out the timeline:

• 1820: Reverend Thomas Hutchings opens a 144-spindle cotton factory in a village called Buena Vista. It is identified as the first cotton factory in Greenville District.
• 1827: Hutchings sells, and Philip C. Lester and Josiah Kilgore take over the mill.
• 1850: The mill is producing cotton yarn.
• 1853: After a fire, Lester rebuilds and keeps running the mill with his sons. By 1860, Lester & Sons also has a paper-mill operation, though no one is sure where it stood in relation to the cotton mill.
• 1880 and 1882: Pelham Manufacturing Company buys the property at public auction and renames it Pelham Mills.
• 1907: One local history account says the mill has more than 10,000 spindles.
• 1935: Pelham Mills closes.
• November 19, 1987: The Pelham Mills Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sources disagree on when fire took the remaining buildings after the mill closed. Furman's archive says 1941. The SC Picture Project says 1940, and another local guide says 1943. All three put it in the early 1940s.

The count of spindles is the easiest way to read the site. It started with 144 in 1820 and had more than 10,000 by 1907. The stone dam that now serves as the overlook belongs to the later part of that story. The National Register nomination dates the large mortared stone dam to between 1880 and 1890, built to better control the river's flow. According to the National Register entry, the old village of Buena Vista is today's town of Pelham.

What the Walk Looks Like Today

The park is simple. The Kidding Around Greenville guide, published in July 2026, reports paved parking and no restrooms. The hiking paths aren't marked. The guide says the paths behind the dam are the easier walk, while the path in front of the dam is steeper. The county's park page doesn't list a trail length, and none of the official pages say whether the dog park is fenced or split into areas for small and large dogs. If that matters to you, check in person before you bring a dog that tends to wander.

The county's park rules cover the rest:

1. Hours are posted at each park, not set countywide, so check the sign at the entrance.
2. Park only in designated areas.
3. Outside the designated dog areas, dogs must stay on a leash no longer than six feet, and owners must pick up after them.
4. Swimming and wading are prohibited in rivers you reach from county parks, and that includes the Enoree. The shoals are for looking at from the overlook.

That last rule shapes the whole visit. Pelham Mill gives you a view of the river from the dam and its paths. You can see the Enoree, but you aren't meant to get in it.

The Trail That Opened in September Points Toward the Same River

On September 8, 2026, the Upstate Greenways and Trails Alliance held a 6 p.m. grand opening for the MESA Nature Trail. The 1.25-mile path runs across the 60-acre Metropolitan Soccer Association campus off Anderson Ridge Road, which is also home to the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy. Google Maps estimates about 18 minutes and 7.6 miles from Cobblestone Road to the MESA Soccer Complex at 1025 Anderson Ridge Road, by way of Roper Mountain Road.

The trail cost very little and reflects a specific idea. UGATA asked for $20,000 in District 21 Community Project Funds, which was the project's entire budget. That money covered a 1.25-mile natural-surface trail, a trailhead kiosk with a map, and metal trail blazes. The work came in two parts, a 0.75-mile stretch and a 0.5-mile loop. The route uses a permanent trail easement donated by Stanley Martin Homes. It improves informal paths already on the MESA campus and adds a new loop and a bridge.

In spring, UGATA Executive Director Matt Hudson-Flege told the Post and Courier that many Greenville County subdivisions sit close to parks yet have almost no way to walk to them. He said the MESA trail fixes that for a neighborhood being built next to the complex.

"It definitely creates a better walkable experience," Hudson-Flege said.

The river is the bigger goal. In the same Post and Courier report, Hudson-Flege said the nonprofit has long seen a chance to build a trail network that reaches the Enoree. The former Greenville County landfill and other public land nearby could carry paths east to the river.

How Far the River Connection Has Actually Gotten

Reports don't agree on how big the network would be. In spring, Hudson-Flege told the Post and Courier it would probably end up around three miles. At the September opening, FOX Carolina reported that UGATA eventually hopes to stretch the trail to five miles and give walkers direct access to the river. The project application says only that the route could later extend across county property to the Enoree. We found no approved schedule, funding, or design for the river extension, and no plan to connect Pelham Mill and MESA.

One more thing to know before you go. The county's MESA Soccer Complex page still lists a three-quarter-mile public walking trail and says dogs are allowed on the walking path only during daylight and only when no event is going on. That page doesn't mention the new 1.25-mile trail. It may be describing an older path, or it may not have been updated yet.

Side by side, the two walks look like this:

Put together, the two sites show the shape of the east side's river access right now. The nearest public view of the Enoree is still a stone dam built in the 1880s at a cotton mill. The newest trail is a $20,000 first step toward the river from about seven miles the other way, on land made available by a donated easement. Unless the extension gets funded and built, the overlook at Pelham Mill stays the closest place to watch the Enoree's shoals from Cobblestone.

If you're tracking how new trails, donated easements, and county funding decisions shape the land around Cobblestone, Patrick Furman and The Furman Group are glad to share what we follow in the public record. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.