The demographics of the Fountain Inn City Center neighborhood are interesting. In 2012, the neighborhood was home to 672 businesses and had more Scots-Irish residents than any other in the state. Approximately one-quarter of residents in the city are of this ancestry. The rest of the population is predominantly white and has other racial or ethnic backgrounds. There are some notable points of interest for people considering moving to this neighborhood.
In 1886, the population of Fountain Inn was approximately 300. The town had three general stores, a Baptist church, and a school. In the 1890s, it had a Presbyterian and Methodist church. The city had two hotels by the early 1900s and a bank, pharmacy, and cotton gin. The cotton mill opened in 1898 and had a population of 230 by the end of that year.
While Fountain Inn City is a fairly small town, the median price of homes in the neighborhood was $190,000. This was considerably less than the prices of similar homes in the surrounding areas. The Greater Greenville Association of Realtors offers data on home sales in the area. The area is growing at a fast pace, which is both surprising and scary. The growth is reflected in a number of factors, including a relatively high median price.
The city has also experienced a significant influx of population. In the early 1900s, farmers began farming in the area. In the 1880s, the state of South Carolina built a stagecoach road from Charleston to Greenville. This provided a place for travelers from the Columbia area to stay overnight. In 1886, a stagecoach stopped here and Fountain Inn was named for the spring water. A cotton and grist mill opened in the area in the 1890s.