| Summary |
Tobacco marketing warehouses vary spatially in the Eastern Tobacco Belt. The identification of structural types and their distribution has long been the concern of settlement geographers. Urban structure is among the major research topics of urban geographers. Structural characteristics and their location in the cultural landscape of eastern North Carolina reveal patterns of geographic significance. Tobacco warehouse types were based on two facade features: (1) Roof-line; and (2) Constructional Material. Two distinct zones of tobacco marketing warehouse location are found on the landscape in or near the four marketing centers tested. Library research and field observations were conducted during 1976 and 1977. Tobacco marketing warehouse roof-lines fall into three classes: (1) Stepped; (2) Angled; and (3) Other. The stepped facade incorporates the building feature known as the false front. The false front gives the viewer of the warehouse the misconception of an added floor. The angled roof-line class includes all tobacco warehouses with facades composed of single front-facing gables. The remaining facade roof-line type, the Other roof-line, is inclusive of all warehouses whose roof-lines do not fit in the first two classes. Regions of dominant roof-line types form general North/South orientations. The Northern section centered on Greenville, N. C., is composed of stepped roofs. The Southern sector of angled roof-lines is located around the town of Smithfield. The other roof-line type is prevalent only in Rocky Mount due to the expansion of existing facilities. The regionalization of facade material forms three distinct areas. The Southern area is made up of sheet metal faced warehouses. A central region concentrated around Greenville, N. C., is formed mainly of bricked warehouse facades. Windsor, N. C. is the focal point of the Northern sheet metal region. Structural characteristics were found to relate to the location and age of the tobacco marketing warehouse. Two marketing areas were found in the environs of Wilson, Greenville, Farmville, and Washington, N. C. The two areas formed in distinct portions of the urban landscapes in the four cities. Classification of these areas is based on their location in the towns. The classes are: (1) CBD; and (2) Peripheral. The marketing area located in or near the CBD is composed generally of brick stepped warehouses built prior to 1950. This region formed partial ring-shaped zones around the CBD of the towns according to the Concentric Zone Theory of urban geography. The peripheral locations, unlike the CBD sites, chosen for tobacco marketing warehouses were large tracts of land built along major roadways of the region. These warehouses are generally constructed of sheet metal with angled roof-lines. The perpheral sites, including all warehouses built since 1950, devoted to tobacco marketing are located along major highways following the assumptions of the Sector and Multiple Nuclei theories of urban geography. The areal distribution of tobacco marketing warehouses demonstrates mappable features. The identification of tobacco warehouse structural types is based upon facade characteristics. Roof-lines and the material used in the construction of warehouse facades is used as the citeria for structural type. Brick and sheet metal are the two basic modes utilized in the raising of the structures. Two locations, relative to the CBD, are present in the urban landscape of the four towns. Prior to 1950, brick stepped warehouses were built in concentrated areas near the present day CBDs of the marketing centers. After 1950, widely spaced plots chosen on the periphery of the four cities. The spatial distribution of tobacco marketing warehouses reveals much of the character of Eastern North Carolina. |
