Mars Bluff, South Carolina | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 34°12′20″N79°39′19″W / 34.20556°N 79.65528°W | |
Country | United States |
State | South Carolina |
County | Florence County |
Elevation | 98 ft (30 m) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 29506 |
Area code(s) | 843, 854 |
GNIS feature ID | 1246538 [1] |
Mars Bluff is an unincorporated community in Florence County, South Carolina, United States that bears the distinction of having been inadvertently bombed with a nuclear weapon by the United States Air Force.
Originally known as Marr's Bluff during the American Revolution, the area west of the Great Pee Dee River eventually became known as Mars Bluff at some point before the American Civil War. [1] [2] Near the end of the American Civil War, the Mars Bluff Naval Yard was established, one of many inland Confederate naval yards. [3]
On March 11, 1958 a U.S. Air Force B-47 Stratojet with a nuclear payload left for nuclear training exercises for war preparations in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The navigator mistakenly pulled the emergency release pin which resulted in the bomb falling out of the plane. Although the bomb was not armed with the plutonium core (a removable capsule of fissionable material which was securely stored in a containment area on board the plane), it nevertheless contained a high-explosive detonator. The resulting explosion created a crater estimated to be 75 feet (23 m) wide and 25–35 feet (7.6–10.7 m) deep. It destroyed a local playhouse, near the residence of Walter Gregg, and leveled nearby trees. Nobody was killed by the blast but several people in Gregg's family were injured. [4] The site is located near US 301, but is difficult to access due to the site being on private property. [5]
Fragments of the bomb are on display at Florence County Museum. [6]
Marlboro County is a county located in the Pee Dee region on the northern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 26,667. Its county seat is Bennettsville. The Great Pee Dee River runs through it.
Marion County is a county located in the coastal plain of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 29,183. Its county seat is Marion. It is a majority-minority county.
Florence County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 137,059. Its county seat is Florence.
Dillon County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 28,292. The county seat is Dillon.
Cheraw is a town on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2020 census. The greater Cheraw area in the zip code 29520 has a population of 13,689 according to the 2019 ACS data. It has been nicknamed "The Prettiest Town in Dixie".
Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Society Hill is a town in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States alongside the Pee Dee River. It is the oldest community in Darlington County and one of the first towns founded in South Carolina. The town was once the intellectual center of the Pee Dee region. However, the town's fortunes declined in the 19th century after rivers became less important as means of transportation. It is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolitan area. The area forms the core of the historical Pee Dee region of South Carolina, which includes the eight counties of northeastern South Carolina, along with sections of southeastern North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 39,899, making it the 10th-most populous city in the state.
Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, South Carolina, United States. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. The population was 6,939 at the 2010 census.
Bennettsville is a city located in the U.S. state of South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. As the county seat of Marlboro County, Bennettsville is noted for its historic homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries—including the Bennettsville Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known as the Yadkin River. The river empties into Winyah Bay, and then into the Atlantic Ocean near Georgetown.
The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, an Indigenous tribe historically inhabiting the region.
Wassaw Sound is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Georgia, United States near Savannah at the mouth of the Wilmington River.
South Carolina's 6th congressional district is in central and eastern South Carolina. It includes all of Allendale, Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Hampton, and Williamsburg counties and parts of Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Jasper, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+14, it is the only Democratic district in South Carolina.
Galivants Ferry is an unincorporated community in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It lies on the Little Pee Dee River west of Aynor on U.S. Route 501.
Snow's Island is an area of swampy lowlands along the Pee Dee River in Florence County, South Carolina. The area is historically significant as the headquarters during the American Revolutionary War for forces led by Francis Marion (1732-1795), a South Carolina militia officer who is celebrated as the "Swamp Fox." Employing guerrilla war tactics, Marion significantly contributed to the American war effort by conducting numerous raids on British outposts." The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
The CSS Peedee, also known as the CSS Pee Dee was a Confederate gunboat launched in January 1865 and scuttled the following month during the American Civil War.
The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War. It received its charter in 1846 and began operation in 1853 from Wilmington, North Carolina, extending west to the now-defunct town of Manchester, South Carolina. The track gauge was 5 ft.
The 1958 Mars Bluff B-47 nuclear weapon loss incident was the inadvertent release of a nuclear weapon from a United States Air Force B-47 bomber over Mars Bluff, South Carolina. The bomb, which lacked the fissile nuclear core, fell over the area, causing damage to buildings below. Though there was no nuclear detonation, six people were injured by the explosion of the bomb's conventional explosives. The Air Force was sued by the family of the victims, who received US$54,000, equivalent to $547,723 in 2022.
Operation Snow Flurry was an operation by the United States Air Force that consisted of B-47 Stratojet bombers flying from South Carolina to England to perform mock bomb drops. Data would be received on the ground from the planes, and this would later be used to track the accuracy of the mock drops. Aircraft involved would then fly to Strategic Air Command airfields in North Africa. In 1958, a B-47 en route from Hunter Air Force Base accidentally dropped an unarmed Mark 6 nuclear bomb over Mars Bluff, South Carolina, although the explosion damaged nearby buildings. Live bombs were carried on board in case the planes had to activate for a wartime situation, but had their fissile nuclear cores removed and could not cause a nuclear detonation.