From its position in the foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Spartanburg, SC, called by its boosters the "Jewel of the Upstate," sits at the intersection of two major surface transportation conduits: I-85 and I-26. With a population totaling about 40,000, Spartanburg both contributes to and draws from the Greater Greenville-Spartanburg area that lies along the I-85 corridor. It also benefits from being just 68 miles from Charlotte, NC, which lies farther up that corridor. To the southwest along the corridor lies Atlanta, GA, about three hours away.


Small-town quality of life and proximity to big city attractions make Spartanburg a good choice for residents looking for an easy pace of life with good cultural values. Home to three small liberal arts colleges--Converse, Spartanburg Methodist and Wofford--and a unit of the University of South Carolina with 4,500 students Spartanburg has the highest per capita post-secondary student population of any major city in South Carolina.


Spartanburg is a town with history and tradition as well as a contemporary outlook. This part of South Carolina was Cherokee country, and a treaty signed in 1730 fixed a line between between South Carolina and the Cherokee Nation that today is the boundary between Spartanburg and Greenville counties.


During the Revolutionary War, most notably at the 1781 Battle of Cowpens, whose site is preserved nearby, General Daniel Morgan defeated British regulars commanded by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarlton. This victory that followed the Colonists' victory at nearby Kings Mountain, NC, and led directly to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, VA, only a nine months later. National Battlefield Parks commemorate and preserve both sites, with Cowpens located in Spartanburg County.


Now a peaceful clearing marking one of the most important moments in the Revolutionary War, Cowpens was fought by a mixture of forces that included a unit called the "Spartan Rifles." Fifty years later, when a town was incorporated near the site, it was named Spartanburg in their honor.


In the 19th century, Spartanburg grew thanks to the railroad, a position that gave it the moniker "Hub City," as some 90 daily trains passed through the growing metropolis. Later, it acquired the state's first municipal airport. Always culturally aware, Spartanburg boasted an early "Opera House" for musical presentations (Nineteenth-century "opera houses" were more for spectacle than for operas as one might expect from the name.)


Spartanburg remains a culturally serious city, with a ballet, theater and philharmonic orchestra. With its strong music programs, Converse College contributes substantially to Spartanburg's musical calendar. The Spartanburg County Museum of Art dates to the turn of the 20th century. For today's artists, nearby Chesnee hosts the Carolina Foothills Artisan Center, both an exhibition space and a sales outlet for more than 70 artists in all media from the region.


Spartanburg's central business district, like so many in the United States, had become worn and neglected. But today, it's alive again, as many businesses choose Downtown for their corporate locations. Restaurants and entertainment venues abound.


Historically a trading post that brought together German, Scotch-Irish and Indian traders, Spartanburg developed a textile- and agriculture-based economy. But its horizons have broadened since those rustic beginnings, and today some 100 international businesses have located their operations in Spartanburg. Perhaps the most visible of these as it stands tall on I-85 is BMW's first North American assembly plant, employing 4,500 and producing the Z4 Roadster and the X5 sports activity vehicle


Besides Germany, 19 other countries also have representation among the international enterprises that now are fixtures in Spartanburg. A well-educated work force, amenable climate and good access to transportation are among the values cited to explain Spartanburg's appeal. Necessarily, those businesses provide a cultural, intellectual, and sociological diversity that enriches this already intriguing South Carolina Upstate.city.