Greene Avenue is named after Nathanael Greene (born in Warwick, Rhode Island on August 7, 1742; died June 19, 1786), who was a major general in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.
When the war started, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible, but he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington’s most gifted and dependable officer.
After being granted land and money in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and refusing the post of Secretary of War, he settled on his Georgia estate, which was worked by slaves.