Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont /ˈpiːdmɒnt/[1] is a plateau region located in the Eastern United States. It is situated between the Atlantic Plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains, stretching from New York in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont Province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands physiographic division and consists of the Piedmont Upland, and the Piedmont Lowlands sections. [2]
The Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line marks the Piedmont's eastern boundary with the Coastal Plain. To the west, it is mostly bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, the easternmost range of the Appalachians. The width of the Piedmont varies, being quite narrow above the Delaware River but nearly 300 miles (475 km) wide in North Carolina. The Piedmont's area is approximately 80,000 square miles (210,000 km2).[3]
The word Piedmont comes from the
Geology
The surface relief of the Piedmont is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills with heights above sea level between 200 feet (50 m) and 800 feet to 1,000 feet (250 m to 300 m). Its geology is complex, with numerous rock formations of different materials and ages intermingled with one another. Essentially, the Piedmont is the remnant of several ancient mountain chains that have since been eroded.
Geologists have identified at least five separate events which have led to
Soils and farming
Piedmont soils are generally
Music
The portion of the Piedmont region in the Southern United States is closely associated with the Piedmont blues, a style of blues music that originated there in the late 19th century. According to the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, most Piedmont blues musicians came from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. During the Great Migration, African Americans migrated to the Piedmont. With the Appalachian Mountains to the west, those who might otherwise have spread into rural areas stayed in cities and were thus exposed to a broader mixture of music than those in, for example, the rural Mississippi delta. Thus, Piedmont blues was influenced by many types of music such as ragtime, country, and popular songs — styles that had comparatively less influence on blues music in other regions.[5]
Cities
Many major cities are located on the
Within the Piedmont region itself, there are several areas of urban concentration, the largest being the
See also
- Cecil (soil)
- Piedmont Atlantic
- Piedmont region of Virginia
- Central North Carolina
- Interstate 85
References
- ^ "Definition of Piedmont | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com.
- ^ Fenneman, N.M.; Johnson, D. W. (1946). "Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S." United States Geological Survey.
- ^ a b "Piedmont". Homework Help and Textbook Solutions | bartleby. The Columbia Gazetteer of North America, 2000. Archived from the original on March 10, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- ^ "Definition of piedmont | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com.
- ^ http://piedmontblues.org/ Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
Further reading
- Godfrey, Michael A. (1997). Field Guide to the Piedmont. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4671-6.
External links
- Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
- New International Encyclopedia. 1905. .