(pleasant music) ♪ We are good Sandlappers, ♪ ♪ Yes, we're good Sandlappers, ♪ ♪ And we're mighty ♪ proud to say ♪ ♪ That we live, yes, we live ♪ ♪ In the very finest ♪ state of the USA ♪ - Hi, dad.

- Hi, Jim.

Did you have fun in school today?

- Sure did.

We learned about Greenville today.

- You did.

Well I'm glad to hear that.

It's good to know as much as you can about the town in which you live.

Let's go home.

- Daddy's right.

It's important to know about the town in which you live in.

We live in Greenville, South Carolina.

My name is Jim Thompson.

We just moved to South Carolina.

Daddy's an environmental control engineer.

He works for Fiber Industries.

His job is to help keep the environment safe and to protect the health of the people who work here.

Daddy, in school today we were talking about the different industries in the Greenville area.

My teacher wanted me to ask you why your company chose Greenville as a site for their factory.

- This area is especially good for industry and more companies are moving here every year.

The climate's good.

- I'm looking forward to that.

- And the taxes aren't as much as in other areas.

There's a large workforce available too.

Many of the workers were trained in South Carolina's technical schools.

Probably the most important reason our plant built here was the good highway system.

The interstate highways that cross in the Greenville-Spartanburg area can be used to transport the polyester fibers used to make clothes from my factory to all parts of the United States.

- Greenville and Spartanburg counties have lots of factories.

My teacher said there are more factories in this area than any other area of South Carolina.

I guess they're here for the same reason my daddy's company is here.

Greenville is a very nice place to live.

It's close to the mountains.

You can even see them in the distance.

Dad, when are we going camping in the mountains like you promised?

- Soon, maybe next weekend.

We've got to get some camping equipment first.

- [Jim] There are many big shopping centers in Greenville.

Mama likes to shop in them because you can buy anything you want here without going to town.

Sometimes we do shop in the downtown area.

Once that was the only place to shop, but some of the stores have closed and moved to shopping centers.

Now, they're redoing the stores downtown, making parks around them and building new restaurants so people will come here again.

Greenville has a lot of good schools.

I like my school.

One day I hope to go to Greenville School for the Fine Arts because I like to be an artist like my mama.

- Oh, I forgot to tell you, they called me today about teaching some classes at the art museum.

- [Jim] There are several art museums in Greenville and Mama likes that.

She's going to teach classes at the Greenville Museum of Art.

Everyone in my family likes something different about living in Greenville.

It's a nice town.

I'm glad we moved here.

- [Peter] My name's Peter Benson.

I live in Columbia.

Columbia is the capital of South Carolina.

The capital was once in Charleston, but the people in the upper part of the state complained that the capital was too far away from them.

So a place in the center of the state was selected to be the new capital.

The state house was one of the first buildings built in Columbia.

The laws of South Carolina are made here by senators and representatives elected by the people of the state.

My dad works in the state house.

Sometimes he lets me come here with him so I can see South Carolina's government at work.

Columbia was a good choice because the Broad and Saluda rivers met here and could be used as a means of transportation to and from the city.

(water sloshing) Today, these rivers are mainly a source of recreation.

There are still some boats on the river, but they are mostly for fishing.

(animals chittering) The Riverbank Zoo is built on the backs of the Saluda River.

It has many different animals from all over the world.

Columbia is one of the largest cities in South Carolina.

Its main business is probably state government.

It takes a lot of people to keep the state's government working properly.

There are also a lot of other business and industries in the Columbia area.

New factories are moving to Richland and Lexington Counties all the time and the Columbia area is really growing.

Columbia is like all other cities.

No matter what size of town it is, it has to have houses and apartments where people can live.

Stores in which they can buy the things they need, places for them to work, schools for their children to go to, restaurants to eat in, motels for visitors to stay in, hospitals, churches, places to have fun, and much more.

(bell ringing) (traffic droning) - [Sharon] Charleston has all the places that other towns have, but it also has some special things that make it different from any other city in South Carolina.

(foghorn blaring) Charleston is a port city because it's located on the Atlantic Ocean and has a good harbor for boats to enter.

Ships come to Charleston from all over the world, bringing their products here and taking our goods back to their countries.

(foghorn blaring) The United States Navy even built a base here in Charleston because of the good harbor.

(water sloshing) (engine rumbling) In fact, the reason there's a city here is because of the harbor.

When the first settlers came to South Carolina, they chose the site for their settlement because of the Cooper and Ashley Rivers.

These rivers met, forming a point of land which could be protected easily and would allow ships to bring supplies to them from home.

The other special thing about Charleston is that it's an old historic city.

It was settled in 1670 and that was a long time ago.

A lot of history has taken place in Charleston County.

During the revolution, Fort Moultrie was a palmetto log fort that protected the town of Charleston from an attack by the British Navy.

This fort was rebuilt several times and used in other wars.

The first shots of the Civil War were fired on Fort Sumter from The Battery in Charleston.

Today, tourists come to visit Fort Sumter to see where the Civil War began.

(foghorn blaring) (hooves clopping) People of Charleston are proud of their history and have tried to preserve it so other people can learn about it too.

My name's Sharon.

I live in one of the oldest sections of Charleston.

(chimes tinkling) Mom, I'm going to Anne.

(chimes tinkling) (door thuds) My mom runs a gift shop.

(bell ringing) When tourists come to the Heyward-Washington House to see where George Washington stayed when he visited Charleston, many of them stop at mom's gift shop.

Mom says that her business is good because of the tourists who come to see historic Charleston.

My friend Anne lives in a house that was built in 1746.

The house is being restored to look like it did when it was first built.

I like to learn about Charleston's past, but I like Charleston as it is today better.

- [Susan] I'm Susan Morrison.

My father works here at Winthrop College.

He teaches teachers.

Winthrop's in Rock Hill so that's where we live.

Rock Hill's not a large city, but it's not a small town either.

It's somewhere in between, but it is growing bigger every year.

Maybe that's because Rock Hill is close to Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a very large city.

Many people like to live in a smaller town but still have all the benefits that a large city can offer.

(birds chirping) Rock Hill is a very nice place to live.

There's a lot of farms nearby so we always find fresh vegetables.

We have nice shopping centers for the other things we need.

(water splashing) We even have a festival called Come-See-Me every spring to show off Glencairn Gardens.

There are several large factories in Rock Hills so there are lots of jobs available.

(traffic droning) But many people like my father work at the college.

(birds chirping) We like living in Rock Hill.

(birds chirping continues) - [Billy] I'm Billy Hendricks.

That's my friend Paul.

We live in Bamberg.

Bamberg's a small town and we like living here.

(engine rumbling) My family used to live in a large city, but we didn't like living there as much as we like living here.

The thing that's so nice about a small town is that you know almost everyone you see.

In a large city, there are so many people you couldn't possibly know everyone, but since there are fewer people in a small town, you can.

(engine rumbling) (horn honking) Of course, there aren't as many things to do in a small town.

Mom and dad work here.

Sometimes people have to leave smaller towns in order to find jobs.

I'm glad my parents found work in Bamberg and we could move back here.

(horn honking) (engine rumbling) I like living in Bamberg.

It isn't a big town, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

- I wouldn't want to live anywhere else either.

Why would I want to live somewhere else when in the summer everybody wants to come here?

I live in Myrtle Beach.

That's in Horry County along the Atlantic Ocean.

In the winter, Myrtle Beach isn't very busy, but in the summer there are people everywhere.

Most people think that Myrtle Beach is just a tourist town and that there's nothing here but motels and restaurants.

Well, we do have a lot of motels and a lot of restaurants because the people who come here to visit have to have places to sleep and to eat.

There are also houses and stores, schools and churches just like in any other town.

In the winter, Myrtle Beach isn't very busy.

(waves lapping) Some people just come to Myrtle Beach for a week or for a few days, but others come here to live just like my family did.

I get to go to the beach anytime I want, not just once a year.

For me, Myrtle Beach is just like any other town because it's where I live.

Where do you live in South Carolina?

- What county is your town in?

- Where do people work in your town?

Where do they live?

Where do they shop?

- Each city has something special about it.

What's special about your city?

- Is your town large or small or is it in between?

- What do you know about your town?

(pleasant music) ♪ We are good Sandlappers, ♪ ♪ Yes, we're good Sandlappers, ♪ ♪ And we're mighty ♪ proud to say ♪