The Carolina, Knoxville & Western Railway was built from Greenville to Marietta in 1888. The railway was originally chartered to build a line from Augusta, GA, to Knoxville, TN. The line was extended to River Falls for a total of 23 miles, and then was abandoned in 1899 (one of the earlier abandonments on record!). The Greenville & Knoxville Railroad was formed to revive the line in 1907 and ran it until 1914. The company was reorganized as the Greenville & Western, and was then renamed the Greenville & Northern Railway in 1920. The line was cut back to Travelers Rest in the mid-1950s, but the section between Traveler's Rest and Cleveland was not officially abandoned until 1970.

The Carolina Piedmont Division of the South Carolina Central Railroad bought the G & N in April 1997, and the last train ran on the G & N in January 1998. Railtex (the owner of CPD-SCCR) sold the right of way to the Greenville County Economic Development Corporation. There are reportedly no plans to reopen this line in the works. Most of the remaining G & N is out of service.

The G & N extended from Greenville to Berea, White Oak, Montague, Altamount (going right by the Furman University campus), to Traveler's Rest, Hellams, Slater, Marietta, Cleveland, Riverview, ending at River Falls.

The Greenville & Northern was apparently sold to the Carolina Piedmont Division of the South Carolina Railroad, however there is litigation surrounding this line. The CPD of the SCRR also purchased the former Charleston & Western Carolina line from Laurens to Greenville from CSX (by way of SCL). The C&WC met up with the Greenville & Northern in Greenville along the Reedy River. A short section from downtown Greenville to East Greenville has been abandoned, probably because of a large wooden trestle that was removed several years ago. This trestle was located over a park at one point, and spanned a tributary to the Reedy River. No doubt the cost to replace the trestle was prohibitory, so now the CPD of the SCRR cannot reach Greenville. The picture below shows the abandoned (or out of service?) part of the line in East Greenville.