
The Spartan Regiment, commanded by Andrew Pickens, participated in the nearby Battle of Cowpens. Spartanburg was formed in 1785, after a deal was made with the Cherokee Nation in 1753, and was named after a local militia called the Spartan Regiment in the American Revolutionary War. It is also the site of headquarters for Denny's. Spartanburg is the home of Wofford College, Converse University, Spartanburg Community College, and Edward Via College of Ostepathic Medicine and the area is home to USC Upstate, Sherman College of Chiropratic and Spartanburg Methodist College. It is part of a 10-county region of northwestern South Carolina known as " The Upstate", and is located 98 miles (158 km) northwest of Columbia, 80 miles (130 km) west of Charlotte, North Carolina, and about 190 miles (310 km) northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Spartanburg is the second-largest city in the greater Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson combined statistical area, which had a population of 1,385,045 as of 2014. For a time, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) grouped Spartanburg and Union Counties together as the Spartanburg metropolitan statistical area, but the OMB now defines the Spartanburg MSA as only Spartanburg County.

The city had a population 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state.

Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States.
