The village is named after Revolutionary War General, Nathanael Greene, who was born in Rhode Island in 1742. Greenville was first settled in the 1600s. The village contains the Greenville Baptist Church (American Baptist Churches, USA), and there are many apple orchards in the surrounding area. This area of Smithfield, is known to be the more wealthy section. Some local Esmond youths refer to things as "West-G", meaning that they generally disapprove of it, or that it is "weak". The area was active in the Free Will Baptist movement in the nineteenth century, and the Smithville Seminary, a Free Baptist institution, was nearby. The Ku Klux Klan was active in the area in the 1920s.[2] U.S. Route 44, known locally as "Putnam Pike" runs through the center of Greenville.
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,626 people, 3,302 households, and 2,314 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 639.3/km² (1,654.7/mi²). There were 3,418 housing units at an average density of 253.3/km² (655.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.47% White, 0.28% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.06% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population.
There were 3,302 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $56,036, and the median income for a family was $66,832. Males had a median income of $49,671 versus $31,545 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $24,770. About 1.6% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.