The 1950's would be an active time for the Chamber. At some point an annual Spring Festival was established complete with bicycle races, good food and crafts. Stores advertised the event with banners in their windows, but "annual" Spring Festival met a quick death, lasting only one year.

A countywide beauty contest was sponsored in 1952.  The event was held in the coliseum in Clemson and was officially called the Country Cotton Pageant - cotton was still king in those days. Phyllis Herring was named the first queen.

Like now, textiles formed a big part of the economy (remember this was written in 1997).  The Chamber began actively pushing people to buy American and take notice that textiles were "Manufactured in the USA".  With the boom in automobiles, the Chamber itself took notice that local people were becoming more and more prone to shop in Greenville instead of Easley. The Chamber urged businesses to stress their superior service.  Nearly 20 years later the downtown business center would see another new threat in form of the development of U.S. Highway 123.

Swirl came to Easley in 1953 and marked a big boost to the economy.  G.B. Nalley constructed the buildings for the new industry in record time.  A car was presented to Mr. Nalley by Swirl because of the speedy completion of their facility.

Three years later Easley had another large addition to the city when, in 1956, Saco Lowell announced it was coming to town. Easley Combined Utility System provided the plant with water and other services.  Both Chamber and city officials worked together tirelessly to make sure that Saco Lowell was accommodated in every respect.

With both Swirl and Saco Lowell in town, Easley was primed for the strong growth to come.  The town finally had a new hospital. After sitting unfinished for several years as a mere shell of a building, the Easley Baptist Hospital was opened in 1956.

One of the more humorous events of 1953 came as a result of a South Carolina Commerce Department promotion that pushed tourism among the state's many towns. On what appears in photos to be a fall day commemorating the event, Chamber board members plucked an unsuspecting couple from their vehicle as they drove through town.  Mr. & Mrs. L. B. Herb of Reading, Pennsylvania were designated Easley's 999th Tourists.