The city will take steps to correct the error.
Sparkman Branch begins at Walden Lake and continues northward. Along with the East Side Canal and the West Side Canal/Mill Creek, Sparkman Branch is one of the primary waterways in the city. But there is a problem with it.
“Somewhere, over time, the name has been incorrectly listed on maps and in databases as the ‘Spartman’ Branch, with a ‘t,’” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “We’ve known about this for awhile, but what do you do? We finally decided to take action to get this resolved once and for all, and correct this error on what is a historically named waterway within our city.”
The City Manager selected a team of city staff to work on this correction. As the team researched the matter, they found historic United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) water quality reports. They also dug up old City of Plant City Utilities and Planning and Zoning reports. Others searched through publicly available historic online map collections held at The University of South Florida and the University of Florida, and found some maps referencing the Sparkman last name as a populated location. Bruton Memorial Library Director, Paul Shaver, conducted a library search, and found a “Flagler Tribune” article that referenced the “Sparkman” Branch.
The team was “…able to gather documentation that convincingly proves that the name of that waterway is, ‘Sparkman Branch,’” McDaniel said. “There are multiple erroneous references that call it Spartman with a ‘t’, and we even found one that calls it the ‘Sportsman’s Branch.’ They were really stretching that one. We found documents from the late 1800s that picked large allocations of property. One to an individual with the last name, “Sparkman,” and one to an individual with the last name, “Pemberton.” That should strike you, because we have the Sparkman Branch and Pemberton Creek. The Sparkman Branch flows north and as it goes past our outdoor pistol range, it becomes Pemberton Creek. So, you can see, historically, that the waterway was named for two of the pioneer families in this area.”
The team found a map from 1882 that appears to be the source of the “Spartman” error. The maps produced back then were hand-drawn. Some of the letters of the cartographer’s handwriting look like calligraphy, and thus have irregular curves and flourishes. This map also has an overlay of gridlines. “Where they wrote, the ‘k’ intersects with the gridline,” McDaniel said. “When I first saw it, I saw it was a ‘t.’ But then, as you study it further, you can clearly see under the gridline, it’s a ‘k’. At other places on the map, it’s a ‘k,’ but at the most critical juncture, at the headwaters of the Sparkman Branch, it looks like a ‘t.’ So, I believe that is probably the source of the original error.” The map coordinates of the error are latitude 28.038, and longitude -82.151.
The error was subsequently perpetuated through entries into databases. The team traced it back to databases as early as the 1990s. They then sent request letters to every agency that has responsibility for correcting errors on maps and related databases.
“I think it’s an important item, certainly to get right,” Mayor Nate Kilton said. “But I think part of it, too, is in the overall work that we’re doing with stormwater—that we need to make sure it is all documented correctly so there is no confusion with our partners when we have to get work done. So, this is a critical part of that step to make sure that everybody is clear on what things are named and who is responsible for cleaning out these areas.”
One of the responses the team got was from USGS with instructions on how to correct the error: Step 1 – Fill out a very complicated, 16-page form, and attach all evidence. Step 2 – obtain resolutions from the city commission and the county commission recommending the name change, and provide that also.
“Kudos go to the folks helping in the project,” McDaniel commented. “Zack, our internal GIS coordinator, has done a phenomenal job of digging into the history and finding different documents. We also had assistance from Shelby Bender over at the East Hillsborough Historical Society. She has provided me with some additional documentation. Also, my executive assistant, Jessie Navarro, has been very instrumental in doing some of the background work.”
“I appreciate the work Mr. City Manager put in getting the name of the creek correctly done,” City Commissioner Mike Sparkman said. “I’m a sixth generation Sparkman in Plant City. My great grandfather, and my great, great grandfather were both county commissioners. Now, I don’t know which one it was named after, or how it came about, but I’m sure that was the reason for the name.”
Because of the USGS requirement for the City Commission to recommend the name correction, at the October 13 City Commission meeting, Commissioners voted 4-0 that the name of Sparkman Branch should be corrected on geographic maps, and authorized city staff to complete any forms needed to get the name corrected.
