Spartanburg County
Five Themes of Geography
Virtual Fieldtrip
by
Travis Smith and Alex Hamilton
Table of Contents
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Theme 1: Location
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Theme 2: Place
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‰
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Movement of People
Movement of Goods
Theme 5: Regions
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Peach Farming
Textile Mills
Theme 4: Movement
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Physical Characteristics
Human Characteristics
Theme 3: Human/Environment Interaction
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Absolute Location
Relative Location
Formal Region
Functional Region
Conclusion
Theme 1: Location
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Two types of Location
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Absolute:
‰
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Absolute
Relative
Referring to an exact location in space
The latitude and longitude of a place
Relative:
‰
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In relation to other places and where they are
located.
Rivers, bordering states, bordering counties,
landforms
1-1
Absolute Location
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Latitude:
„
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Longitude:
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34.93163 North
81.99075 West
The entire county goes from
approx. 35.2 to 34.6 degrees
north and 82.2 to 81.7
degrees west
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Tiger
Map Server
1-2
Relative Location
„
Relative to other states:
‰
East of GA, North of FL, SE of
TN, South of VA
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Relative to other counties: North
of Newberry, Lexington, Saluda,
west of Cherokee, York, Chester,
east of Greenville
„
Relative to bodies of water: East
Saluda and Reedy, west of Broad
„
Relative to landmarks: South of
Chimney Rock, east of Table
Rock
Source: discoversouthcarolina.com
Source: SCIway.net
1-3
Theme 2: Place
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Two types of place:
‰
‰
„
Human Characteristics include:
‰
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Human Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
Bridges, buildings, language, modes of
transportation, and religion
Physical Characteristics include:
‰
Landforms, climate, wildlife, bodies of water, and
vegetation
2-1
Physical Characteristics
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Bird Mountain
‰ Highest point in county
‰ 1,480 feet
‰ Located in NW portion of
county
Humid, temperate climate
‰ Avg. daily temp. is 60
degrees F
Avg. rainfall: 50 inches
Second in state for
production of peaches and
apples and fifth in hay
harvesting
Two wetland sites:
‰ Camp Croft
‰ Pacolet River Heritage
2-2
Human Characteristics
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BB&T Building:
‰
‰
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Tallest building in
Spartanburg County
Located in the heart of
downtown Spartanburg
BMW Manufacturing Plant
‰
‰
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Located in Greer
1.2 million sq. foot building
In 2000 they doubled the
size of the plant
„
„
$600 million project
Brought five new suppliers
to area, in addition to 22
already there
2-3
Theme 3: Human/Environment
Interaction
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Pertains to how the environment and people
effect each other
People depend on the environment
‰
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People modify the environment
‰
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Ex: It dictates what type of crops we grow
Ex: Clearing land and planting crops on it
People adapt to the environment
‰
Ex: Wearing a certain type of clothing according to
the season
3-1
Peach Farming
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Became a commercial crop in
1920’s
1940: Three million peach trees
in Spartanburg county
At one time second largest peach
producing county in U.S.
1950: 800 commercial peach
farms, Present: few in the county
Limited future due to:
‰
Development, rising land
prices, bad weather, stiff
competition
Many peach farms are now
covered with manufacturing
plants (BMW, Michelin)
Middle of state now pre-dominant
peach growing area
‰
Edgefield County
3-2
Textile Mills
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Approx. 47 total mills in county
at one time
The county’s dominant
employer in 1949, 20,000
workers
Textile jobs peaked in 1973:
21,742 jobs
1970’s held steady with 19,500
jobs, 5,000 and 6,000 jobs
disappeared in the 80’s and
90’s respectively
Six out of every seven apparel
jobs disappeared b/w 1971
and 2002
3-3
Theme 4: Movement
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Three different types of movement:
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‰
‰
People
Goods
Ideas
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People interact and depend on these things daily
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They do not come directly from their immediate
environment
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Transportation is essential to the movement of
people
4-1
Movement of People
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Since 1960 every 10-year
census has seen 23,300
increase
Largest growth and
movement has taken place in
western, southern, and
center portions of county
Growth also along I-85
corridor
Population of county, 1960:
156,830,1995: 240,329
Population in year 2000:
253,791
Source: Spartanburg County Internet Map
Server
4-2
Movement of Goods
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The county is served by CSTX,
Norfolk Southern, and Amtrak
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I-85/I-26 essential to the
movement of goods
‰
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CSTX operates more track mileage
than any other railroad company in
the state
Amtrak – 5,700-6,700 passengers
get on/off in Spartanburg
Over 50,000 vehicles travel from I85 to I-26 daily
Greenville/Spartanburg Int’l Airport
‰
‰
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Opened in 1962
Four cargo airlines
1964: 1,432 tons of cargo
2004: 23,995 tons of cargo
4-3
Theme 5: Regions
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Three types of regions
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Formal: share one or more unifying characteristics
‰
Functional: based and organized around a node or
focal point
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Perceptual: based on people’s feeling and beliefs
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Vernacular: perceptual region identified by people inside
the region/county, not outsiders
5-1
Theme 5: Regions
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Formal Region in
Spartanburg County:
The Central Business
District:
‰
‰
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The core: Daniel Morgan
Square
City Gov’t has tried to make
CBD more attractive with
specialty retailers and fine
dining areas
Flanking outward from the
core you have heavy retail
business in suburban areas
of county
5-2
Theme 5: Regions
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Functional Region in Spartanburg
County:
Greenville/Spartanburg Int’l
Airport
Seven passenger airline
companies and their major hubs
(nodes/focal points):
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U.S. Airways: Charlotte,
Philadelphia, Washington
National
United: Chicago (O’Hare)
Northwest: Detroit, MinneapolisSt. Paul
Independence: Washington
(Dulles), Orlando
Delta: Cincinnati, Atlanta
American Eagle: Chicago,
Dallas
Continental: Newark, Houston,
Cleveland
Source: http://www.flyi.com/ (Independence Air)
5-3
Conclusion
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Latitude: 34.93 degrees North; 81.99 degrees
West
County is located in northern most part of the state
Bird Mountain: highest point
Once dominated by textile mills and peach farming
but has been replaced by manufacturing
I-85, I-26 essential to all movement in county
Most growth along I-85 corridor
Has the highest per capita of foreign investment in
U.S.
Formal Region: Central Business District
Functional Region: GSP (part of a larger region)
References
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Air Cargo. GSP International Airport. 2004. 7 April 2005. http://www.gspairport.com/cargo.html
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“BMW Investing $600 Million to Expand in SC And Build E53 SUV”. Ward’s Auto World. 1 June 1998. 28 March 2005.
http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_bmw_investing_million/
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Corbin, Mike. Family Trees: The Peach Culture of the Piedmont. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Hub City Writers Project. November 1998. 16 March 2005.
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“Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport Comprehensive Airline Schedule”. GSP Flight Schedule. GSP International Airport. 2004. 28 March 2005.
http://www.gspairport.com/FSdepartures.shtml
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“History”. South Carolina Reference Room – Spartanburg County. South Carolina State Library. 23 February 2005. 27 March 2005. http://www.state.sc.us/scsl/spar.html
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“Independence Air Route Map, Spring 2005”. Destinations. Impendence Air. 2005. 4 April 2005. http://www.flyi.com/tools/destinations/default.aspx
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“Spartanburg Area, The”. Newcomer.com. 23 March 2005. http://www.newcomer.com/cities/greenville/GRVspartanburg.html
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Spartanburg County Comprehensive Plan. Spartanburg County Government. Part 1-Part VII. 5 March 2005.
http://www.co.spartanburg.sc.us/govt/depts/pln/compplan/TOC.htm
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“Spartanburg County, South Carolina”. South Carolina Quick Facts. U.S. Census Bureau. 1 February 2005. 24 March 2005.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/45083.html
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South Carolina-Detailed County Maps. SCIway. 2004. 10 March 2005. http://sciway.net/maps/cnty/
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“Statistics and facts about the segment of I-85 in Spartanburg County”. I-85 in Spartanburg County. 28 March 2005.
http://www.geocities.com/thenativesarerestless/i85spartco.htm
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Table Rock State Park. Discover South Carolina. 2005. 15 March 2005. http://discoversouthcarolina.com/stateparks/parkdetail.asp?PID=350
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Teter Wakefield, Betsy. Textile Town Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Hub City Writers Project. November 2002. 15 March 2005.
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Tiger Map Server Browser. U.S. Census Bureau. 27 March 2005. http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapsurfer?infact=2&outfact=2&act=move&tlevel=-&tvar=&tmeth=i&mlat=&mlon=&msym=bigdot&mlabel=&murl=&lat=34.93163&lon=-81.99075&wid=0.360&ht=0.130&conf=mapnew.con
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“Total Air Cargo”. GSP Cargo Statistics. GSP International Airport. 2004. 7 April 2005. http://www.gspairport.com/cargo_stats.shtml
“U.S. Gazetteer”. U.S. Census Bureau. 9 March 2005. http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer?city=spartanburg&state=SC&zip=