Spartanburg, South Carolina

Spartanburg, South Carolina
—  City  —
Spartanburg, South Carolina Skyline
Nickname(s): The Hub City; Sparkle City
Motto: Service is Our Business
Coordinates:
Country United States
State South Carolina
County Spartanburg
Founded 1831
Government
 - Mayor Junie White
Area
 - City 19.2 sq mi (49.9 km2)
 - Land 19.2 sq mi (49.6 km2)
 - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)  0.47%
Elevation 807 ft (246 m)
Population (2000)
 - City 139,673
 - Density 2,066.3/sq mi (399.9/km2)
 Metro 280,738 (2,008)
 - Demonym Spartans
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
Area code(s) 864
FIPS code 45-68290[1]
GNIS feature ID 1250982[2]
Website www.cityofspartanburg.org

Spartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States.[3] It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina.

Spartanburg is located 98 miles (158 km) northwest of Columbia, 80 miles (130 km) west of Charlotte, and about 190 miles (300 km) northeast of Atlanta. Spartanburg's population was 139,673 at the 2000 census. However, as is typical with South Carolina cities, the urbanized area of the city is much larger at almost 250,000 (according to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau figures), because it is difficult for cities to annex surrounding unincorporated land in South Carolina . It is the principal city of the Spartanburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (population 280,738) which is included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area (population 1,241,618 according to 2008 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau).

Contents

History

This region of the Carolina Piedmont was for centuries a cherished hunting ground of the Catawba and Cherokee tribes, which occupied land east and west of this area, respectively. This distant heritage can be glimpsed in some of the natural features.

Lawson's Fork Creek just downstream from the Cottonwood Trail
Hatcher Garden in winter

Early European settlers to this area included French fur trappers, English woodsmen, and Scots-Irish farmers. Few remnants survive from these early pioneering days, but traces can be found, particularly in the more rural areas of the county.

First established in the 1780s as a courthouse village, Spartanburg is thought to have been named after the Spartan regiment of the South Carolina Militia. The city of Spartanburg was incorporated in 1831, at the time of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens, a pivotal battle of the American Revolution that took place only a few miles away. The city’s streets and architectural record reflect the changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Cotton mills have abounded in the Spartanburg area since 1816, earning Spartanburg the reputation as the "Lowell of the South." Although there were relatively few mills in the area before the American Civil War, new technological advances that simplified the work, northern capital, and out-migration from the poor farms created a wave of postbellum mill development here and in much of the piedmont South. Additionally, the abundant streams and rivers in the area are just beginning their descent towards the lower-lying Midlands region. In many places, these waterways descend abruptly, providing a source for plentiful waterpower. Cotton mills were built along these rivers to harness this power and so began the region’s servitude to King Cotton. These mills, their owners and their laborers dominated the politics and economy of the region for nearly a century. Although nearly all abandoned, many mills remain along the riverbanks, the Piedmont equivalent of Gothic ruins.

The old bridge and millpond at Glendale. The mill itself (background) has since burned.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, one of the 16 divisional cantonments for the training of National Guard troops, Camp Wadsworth, was established near the town in the vicinity of present Westgate Mall. Large numbers of New York National Guardsmen trained there in addition to many southern troops. During World War II Camp Croft south of the city trained Army recruits. This is now a South Carolina State park with the same name. Some portions of the park contain the original quonset huts (1/2 metal tube structures).

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.2 square miles (49.9 km²), of which, 19.1 square miles (49.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.

The average annual temperature is 60 °F (16 °C), with the average January temperature being 40 °F (4 °C) and the average July temperature as 78 °F (26 °C). There are four distinct but not extreme seasons. Average precipitation is 51.3 inches (130 cm) and the average growing season is 231 days.

Climate data for Spartanburg, South Carolina
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/south-carolina/greenville-spartanburg/

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USSC0325

Government

The current mayor is Junie White, elected in 2009. The city operates under a Council-Manager form of government in which the mayor and six city council members have equal votes. Council members represent districts within the city and the mayor is elected at large. Council appoints a city manager, who is responsible for the administration of city government.[5]

The County Administration Building (this is the old Sears building which was vacated in the mid-1970s when Sears moved to Westgate Mall and renovated in the late 1980s or early 1990s) is located at 366 North Church Street. It is across the street from the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. City Hall is located at 145 West Broad St.

Economy

Advance America Headquarters
BMW Zentrum, the visitor center of BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina manufacturing plant

Some of these new developments include a nine-floor, 240-room Marriott, the world headquarters of Extended Stay Hotels, the headquarters of Advance America (see photo), and the headquarters of QS/1 Data Systems. The world headquarters of Denny's restaurants is also located in downtown Spartanburg. Numerous other smaller businesses such as RJ Rockers Brewing Company have also moved downtown as a result of this community-wide effort.

The economy of Spartanburg also benefits from the BMW manufacturing facility located in the western end of Spartanburg County. Manufacturing began in 1996 with certain types of the 3 Series (from the E36 platform) and with the Z3 roadster. However, a year later when the newer 3 Series (E46) platform emerged, BMW decided not to build it at the Spartanburg plant, but instead exclusively manufacture variants of the popular Z3. The plant currently manufactures the X5 SAV and X6 SAC for the world market. As part of an expansion project announced in March 2008, the plant will add about 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2) of assembly space, and it will become the home of the next-generation X3 SAV.

Spartanburg is also home to the world headquarters and research facility for Milliken & Company. With over 12,000 associates located at more than 60 facilities worldwide, Milliken is one of the largest privately held textile and chemical manufacturers in the world.

Education

College town

Spartanburg is a College Town[6], and it has six institutions of higher learning:

Public and private schools

Spartanburg is served by the Spartanburg County School System, which is divided into seven individual districts. Some of the districts share a vocational school. The city of Spartanburg is located in primarily in District 7 of and partially in District 6. The McCarthy Teszler School is a school for special needs that serves the whole county and is physically located in District Seven.

Spartanburg is home to Spartanburg Christian Academy, a K-12 private schools in North Spartanburg. [14]

Spartanburg is home to the Spartanburg Day School, a K-12 private school offering The International Baccalaureate in grades K-8 and holds multiple recent state championships in several sports. Its headmaster is Chris Dorrance.

Spartanburg is home to Spartanburg Charter School, a K-6 public charter school that is the only "brick and mortar" charter school in the Upstate. Opened in August 2009, the school will expand; adding a grade level each school year until it is a K-9 program. The school features a reggio emilia approach[15] to their curriculum. [16]

Spartanburg is home to Oakbrook Preparatory School, a K-12 private school that is known for its dedication to excellence in both sports and education. [17]

Spartanburg is home to the main campus of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind. It has five Regional Outreach Centers throughout the state. [18]

Spartanburg is home to St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School which is located in downtown Spartanburg. It is affiliated with the Diocese of Charleston and is K-8. [19]

Healthcare

Spartanburg County’s healthcare is mainly provided by the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Spartanburg Regional is a public, not-for-profit, integrated health care delivery system based in the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, a 588-bed teaching and research hospital. SRHS provides healthcare services to a five-county area in North and South Carolina, serving an Upstate medical population of more than 300,000 people.

In 1925, Dr. Hugh Ratchford Black opened a 35-bed facility named in honor of his wife, Mary Black. The current Skylyn Drive facility opened in 1968, and today, the campus features a 353,690-square-foot (32,859 m2) modern medical facility. The medical staff consists of more than 350 physicians representing all specialties. Mary Black Physician Group has over 100 employed physicians in more than 30 locations.

Attractions

Spartanburg is home to many events throughout the year:

Other attractions include:

Sports

Spartanburg is host to the NFL's Carolina Panthers Training Camp each year at Wofford College's Gibbs Stadium.

Historic Duncan Park Stadium was once home to the Spartanburg Stingers[25] in the Coastal Plain League[26] and the Spartanburg Crickets[27] in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League[28] and is the oldest minor league baseball stadium in the country. It now is the home stadium for the baseball teams of Spartanburg High School Vikings.

The Annual Shrine Bowl Of The Carolinas is held each year at Wofford College's Gibbs Staduim. It is a High School Football allstar game played between the top players from South Carolina who meet up and play the top players from North Carolina.

USC Upstate Spartans, Spartanburg Methodist College Pioneers, and the Wofford College Terriers offer a variety of sports for both men and women. Converse College also offers NCAA Division II women's sports teams.[29] Eddie Payne, former coach of Oregon State and East Carolina is the Head Coach of the USC Upstate Basketball team, which enters its first year of Division I Play in the Atlantic Sun Conference

The Southern Conference of the NCAA is headquartered in Spartanburg.

Spartanburg is also located an hour away from the Clemson Tigers and about an hour and a half away from the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

Spartanburg Parks Commission hosts several travel baseball and softball tournaments each year, helping brand Spartanburg as one of the Southeast's most reputable tournament locations. Tyger River Park, a 13-field mega baseball/softball complex, opens in 2011.

Upward Unlimited, a Christian-based sports organization for kids, is also headquartered in Spartanburg. [30]

Arts and culture

Despite its size as a small city, Spartanburg has, throughout its history, been a fruitful home to a creative community. Cultural events and institutions abound in the city and county and consistently draw large crowds.

Media

Spartanburg is part of the much greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson-Asheville DMA which is the nation's 35th largest and is served by the following major network television affiliates:

WYFF 4 (NBC)

WSPA 7 (CBS)- broadcasting from Spartanburg

WLOS 13 (ABC)

WHNS 21 (Fox)

WMYA 40 (My Network TV)

WYCW 62 (The CW Network)- broadcasting from Spartanburg

Transportation

Spartanburg is located along the Interstate 85 corridor, between Charlotte, North Carolina and Greenville, South Carolina. Two spurs of Interstate 85 are located in the area: Interstate 585, which morphs into N. Pine Street/US Highway 176. Interstate 26 runs through the county that connects Columbia, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina.

Spartanburg has access to two airports.

Spartanburg is served by the Spartanburg Area Regional Transit Agency or SPARTA. SPARTA serves the City of Spartanburg and the surrounding urbanized area with 8 routes leading to a wide variety of destinations.[43] The new SPARTA Passenger Center is located at 100 North Liberty St.

Amtrak's Crescent train connects Spartanburg with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Greensboro, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is situated at 290 Magnolia Street.

Demographics

See also: Demographics of Spartanburg County
Logo of the City of Spartanburg

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 39,673 people, 15,989 households, and 9,721 families residing within the Spartanburg city limits. The population density was 2,066.3 people per square mile (799.9/km²). There were 17,696 housing units at an average density of 923.9/sq mi (356.8/km²). The racial makeup within the city limits was 49.55% African American, 47.15% White, 0.18% Native American, 1.33% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population.

There were 15,989 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.0% were married couples living together, 23.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 79.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,735, and the median income for a family was $36,108. Males had a median income of $30,587 versus $23,256 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,136. About 19.4% of families and 23.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.6% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

List of neighborhoods

  • Andrews Farm
  • Arcadia
  • Arkright
  • Beaumont Mills
  • Ben Avon
  • Boiling Springs
  • Bradford Crossing
  • Bradford Place
  • Bradford West
  • Brentwood Hills (now considered a part of Converse Heights)
  • Camelot
  • Camp Croft
  • Canaan
  • Cannons Campground
  • Carolina Country Club
  • Cedar Springs
  • Chesnee
  • Clevedale
  • Cleveland Heights
  • Cleveland Park
  • Clifton
  • Converse
  • Converse Heights
  • Cowpens
  • Cypress Creek
  • Drayton
  • Duncan
  • Duncan Park
  • Fairforest
  • Fernwood
  • Fernwood-Glendale Rd.
  • Forest Hills
  • Glendale
  • Glenn-Springs
  • Greenpond
  • Hampton Heights (National Register of Historic Places district)
  • Hawk Creek
  • Hillbrook
  • Hillcrest
  • Hilltop
  • Inman
  • Landrum
  • Londonderry
  • Lyman
  • Mayfair
  • Mistybrook
  • Moore
  • North Spartanburg
  • Oak Creek Plantation
  • Oak Forest
  • Pacolet Mills
  • Park Hills
  • Pauline
  • Pierce Acres
  • Pine Grove
  • Poplar Springs
  • Reidville
  • Roebuck
  • Saxon
  • Shadow Lakes
  • Sherwood Acres
  • Shoresbrook
  • Shoreswood
  • South Side
  • Southern Shops
  • Springdale
  • Summerhill
  • Swan Estates
  • Switzer
  • Thornhill
  • Una
  • Union Street
  • Valley Falls
  • Wellford
  • Westgate
  • Westview
  • Whitestone
  • Whitney
  • Willowbrook
  • Windser Forest
  • Woodburn Hills
  • Woodland Heights
  • Woodridge
  • Woodruff
  • Woodwind

Notable natives and residents

References

Further reading

External links