The town of Greenville was separated from Mason and incorporated as a separate town in 1872. The village was known earlier as Mason Harbor, Mason Village, and Souhegan Village. Because of the falls in the Souhegan River, Greenville was always a manufacturing center. The Columbian Manufacturing Company was established in 1826 to make cotton and wool cloth in both Greenville and New Ipswich. Columbian is long gone, but its fine brick buildings still dominate the village, kept company by the well-kept Queen Anne-style houses on side streets.

The town offers many conservation, hiking, swimming, boating and fishing areas. 200 acres of land recently donated by the Taft brothers to New Hampshire Fish and Game provide significant frontage on the Souhegan. It is an excellent site for fishing and wildlife observation.