Greenville History Tours owner, John Nolan, was approached by History Press in April 2007 about writing a historic guide to Greenville because they knew he was thoroughly familiar with the city's history through his business. He began writing in earnest in October, 2007, and finished "A Guide to Historic Greenville, South Carolina" at the end of January, 2008. Within a month of sales he made it to the top 50 list of History Press's top sellers for the year. Book signings have been hosted by The Open Book, Upcountry History Museum, and Barnes & Noble, the Greenville Council of Garden Clubs "Historic Home Garden Tour," and others. He is currently researching and meeting with local historic home owners to prepare for his next book, "A Guide to Historic Neighborhoods in Greenville, SC."
John's local history expertise has fostered invited tours and lectures from such venues as the History after Dark Lecture Series for the Upcountry History Museum, the VIP All-Access Back Stage Pass Program hosted by the Greenville Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the Opportunity Greenville program Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and the 2010 annual South Carolina Federation of Museums conference held in Greenville.
As an outgrowth of his love for history, this city and over a decade of experience giving museum tours, John took the initiative in 2006 to start his own Greenville city tour company - Greenville History Tours. Over the past four years he has established key partnerships of business with the local Convention and Visitor's Bureau; public and private schools in Greenville, Anderson and Pickens counties; civic groups such as the Rotary; professional business and government organizations such as Upstate Alliance, International Center of the Upstate and the City of Greenville; major companies such as Fluor and Synnex Corp. and thousands of tourists and locals alike.