Charleston P&C: Google Maps place-naming explained
neillh...@earthlink.net
Who really controls the map? Inside Google’s grip on Lowcountry navigation
The so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" in Charleston's Neck Area is shown in 2024. It's now leading to somewhere, the Magnolia Landing development that broke ground earlier this year.
File/Andrew Whitaker/Staff
CHARLESTON — In a long-past era of folded paper maps and printed turn-by-turn directions, Google Maps has become the undisputed king of smartphone navigation.
But as the Lowcountry continues to grow — as new neighborhoods are developed, old roads renamed, landmarks reinvented — it raises a fundamental question: How is Google keeping up? And what happens when users submit new information, even nicknames for locations that aren’t vetted?
Recently, Lowcountry residents took to social media after a upper peninsula pedestrian span on Petty Street, long known informally as the “Bridge to Nowhere” — a relic from a failed development — suddenly appeared in Google Maps under a new name, “Graffiti Bridge.”
After that notable change, the landmark has completely disappeared on Google Maps.
For now.
Both names were almost certainly user-submitted, as the city of Charleston says it has zero involvement with what appears in the interface.
“The city doesn’t have any involvement with Google Maps,” said Deja Knight McMillan, chief communications officer for the City of Charleston.
The graffiti bridge moniker could have been changed through user-submitted photos that show the bridge covered in spray-painted markings.
With enough of those images being scanned by Google — and perhaps someone suggesting a new name through its user’s “contribute” tab — the search engine giant had at least temporarily accepted the updated name.
It was labeled as the “graffiti bridge” even as a recent filming of Neflix hit Outer Banks at the location meant the crew painted over some of the graffiti, even compensating the city for the work, McMillan said.
But for more pressing new locations, such as the American Gardens, the new public park downtown unveiled Nov. 15 by Beemok Hospitality Collection, “I would assume Beemok probably requested the American Gardens location from Google,” McMillan said.
Nathan Ryan, geographic information systems coordinator for the city of Goose Creek, said Google Maps can easily become a site for mistakes.
“We do not provide landmark data to Google,” Ryan said. “Anyone can edit these.”
He points to previous pranks as proof: In 2016, Trump Tower in Chicago briefly became “Dump Tower.”
Another viral Google Maps moment came in 2023, when pranksters renamed Maize Middle School in Kansas to “Maize Of Skibidi Rizz,” a trending slang phrase at the time.
Both were corrected, but it underscored a key vulnerability in the platform: With enough submissions, the map may become whatever someone wants it to be. Beyond landmarks, users can submit edits to street or city names. Google blends official data with what the public provides.
For Lowcountry businesses, getting the most updated business name and location on Google Maps isn’t just a convenience — it can determine whether customers find you or keep driving.
Emily Wilson, owner of a Mount Pleasant Endeavors, a new East Cooper furniture boutique that opened Nov. 18, said she worked closely with Google to update her store’s name and location on Google Maps to reflect the new name at 554 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
The company took over the space previously occupied by a similar retailer, Backyard Retreats. Wilson said she had to submit her city business license to Google to verify the new business name and address, which now comes up correctly on the map.
Carnes Crossroads is a new planned community in Goose Creek that is only a quarter built, with approval for about 4,500 homes upon completion.
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For everyday residents, especially in a fast-growing area like Goose Creek, which is proposing to get its own, new new zip code, frustrations with the online maps are a regular occurrence.
“Citizens come into our office upset when Google Maps doesn’t always show their street,” said Craig Nessel, GIS director for the city. “It may take several months for changes to appear in Google Maps after we add them to our GIS.”
Google Maps in 2012 misidentified Septima P. Clark Expressway as part of the Ravenel Bridge.
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Municipal GIS staffers — not Google Maps — are the true authorities on location data. They’re the ones who plot new roads and subdivisions, assign every new street address, and untangle conflicts that affect 911 response and utilities.
But Google Maps, the platform the public often trusts most, sometimes operates by its own rulebook. The good news: when mistakes do surface, they’re usually resolved fast.
“There have been a few times when I was asked to fix the address or location of a place, and Google Maps made the changes relatively quickly,” Nessel said.
Jenny Peterson is a business reporter at The Post and Courier, focusing on retail. An award-winning journalist, she covered statewide business news as special projects editor at SC Biz News. Originally from New Orleans, she previously worked as an editor at New Orleans CityBusiness and Biz New Orleans business publications.