Greenville is the county seat, and the largest city, of Hunt County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 23,960. Greenville was named for Thomas J. Green, a general in the Texas Army in the war for independence from Mexico. He later became a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. The city was almost named “Pinckneyville” in honor of James Pinckney Henderson, the first Governor of Texas.