Two guys walk past an empty building on Main Street in North, S.C., on a chilly January day. What caught our attention about the deteriorating grand-looking commercial building was the red sign of the establishment at the right — a church that appeared to be closed. Emblazoned at the top: “Im Still Here and Still Standing For Jesus.”
North, which has an old military air strip outside of the town limits that is still used for military touch-and-go landings for C-17 Globemaster transport jets, seems to be a tired, rural town. The reason: It got its oomph more than 100 years because of the railroad, which isn’t a player these days. [History.]
North, which has a population of about 800, is in Orangeburg County, which is South Carolina’s largest. Some 91,476 people were thought to live in the county in 2012, according to the U.S. Census. Almost two in three residents are black. Some 24.5 percent of residents live below poverty.
- More about North via Wikipedia.
Copyrighted photo was taken Jan. 22, 2014 by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.
Mr. Brack, I was excited to see this photo posted on SouthernCrescent.org. I took this same shot about 3 years ago when riding through North. For a couple of years off and on I have been working on a devotional photo book of forgotten South Carolina, and I wanted my photo to be the cover. I am not a journalist, nor am I a photographer–just a third grade public school teacher who is a native South Carolinian. I grew up in Mt. Pleasant, but spent many summers in the mountains in Pickens County. My parents are both from Greenville. But I have fallen in love with the forgotten middle of my state since my husband and I bought an old farmhouse in Bamberg County about 7 years ago. It is located on Colston Road outside of Ehrhardt where you photographed recently. Although we live in Summerville, Tim and I spend almost every weekend at our farm which we call Sunnyside. I must tell you that there is much more to Ehrhardt than you conveyed. The IGA grocery store parking lot is always full of cars. Every other Saturday since last summer when they were rebuilt, the stockyards are pulling in folks from all over. And there is a new drugstore! A number of churches in town are involved in services to help the poor with food and clothes. I have recently subscribed to your site as I believe strongly in what you are all about. Especially in my state, this crescent is forgotten. Thank you for all you are doing.