Author: Andy Brack

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Courthouse, Williamsburg County, S.C.

 

County Courthouse, Kingstree, S.C.
County Courthouse, Kingstree, S.C.

Legendary architect Robert Mills, who designed the Washington Monument, also designed the courthouse in Williamsburg County, S.C. (above).  The ground floor of the building, built in 1823, is part of the original structure, writes photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C.

In 2013, the building got a much-needed renovation as part of an extensive capital project made possible by the federal stimulus program. In addition to the courthouse renovation, the county built a new county administration building, a new jail, a new 911 center and a new animal shelter.

Just under 34,000 people live in Williamsburg County, which is about the number who lived there in 1900, according to Census figures.  Population peaked in 1950 at 43,807, but has dropped slowly since then.

About two-thirds of county residents are black, with almost  all of those remaining being white.  Only 2 percent of those in the county are of Hispanic descent.  Some 32.8 percent of residents live in poverty, according to the Census.  Of the county’s 1,921 firms, 36.5 percent are black-owned — a percentage that is three times South Carolina’s average.

Copyrighted photo taken in 2014 by Linda W. Brown  All rights reserved.

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Fading sign, Soperton, Ga.

Old horse and mule business, Soperton, Ga.
Old horse and mule business, Soperton, Ga.

This fading old Coca Cola sign is on the side of a brick building in Soperton, Ga., a town of just over 3,000 people in Truetlen County in the middle of Georgia.  VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown says it’s part of an ad for horses and mules.

According to a post on Brown’s site, the top of the sign was covered by a Firestone sign until just a few years ago.  The building most recently housed a retail business that had the franchises for Firestone tires, Snapper, Zenith, GE and more.  The original building reportedly was a horse and mule operation owned by a local political and business leader.

The county is home to about 6,700 people, two-thirds of whom are white.  Some 26 percent of the population live at or below the federal poverty line.  In the town of Soperton, more than 31 percent of people live below the poverty line.

Copyrighted photo by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Depot, Pinewood, S.C.

Restored depot, Pinewood, S.C.
Restored depot, Pinewood, S.C.

Pinewood, population 538 in rural Sumter County, S.C., has this old, restored railroad depot, which is similar to ones we’re showcased in the past from Salters, S.C., and Leary, Ga.

Kingstree, S.C., photographer Linda W. Brown says this news story from 202 highlights the depot’s restoration.

Sumter County, which is home to Shaw Air Force Base, is comprised of 108,052 people.  Just under 50 percent are white; 47 percent are black. The poverty rate is estimated to be 18.2 percent in the county, but it is a much higher percentage in places like Pinewood.

Copyrighted photo by Linda W. Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Big bales, Clarendon County, S.C.

Brightly-colored tarps cover big bales of cotton in eastern South Carolina.
Brightly-colored tarps cover big bales of cotton in eastern South Carolina.

During the autumn, brightly-colored tarps covering huge cotton bales are an important part of the scenery across the rural South.  These bales, photographed by Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C., are in eastern Clarendon County, S.C.

Clarendon County has 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate.  About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black.

Photo taken in 2014 by Linda W. Brown.  Copyrighted; all rights reserved.

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Out in the field, Clarendon County, S.C.

Signs at the edge of a Clarendon County field.
Signs at the edge of a Clarendon County field.

Kingstree, S.C., photographer Linda W. Brown spied these old signs along a fence of what she thought seemed to be an abandoned baseball field in rural Clarendon County, S.C.

Clarendon County has 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate.  About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black.

Photo taken in 2014 by Linda W. Brown.  Copyrighted; all rights reserved.

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Leaky roof, Fairfax, S.C.

Leaky roof, Fairfax, S.C.
Leaky roof, Fairfax, S.C.

Note the blue tarp on the roof of this dilapidated house on Sumter Street in Fairfax, S.C.  The area has a lot of housing that needs improvement, according to those who live in the area and nonprofit officials.

Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia.   Per capita income was $8,940.  About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.

Rural Allendale County in South Carolina’s southwest corner as one of the Crescent’s highest poverty rates — more than 40 percent of people live below the federal poverty level. The median household income is about $23,000 a year — half of South Carolina’s average and well below the nation’s $50,000 average.

Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack, Oct. 1, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Empty motel, Allendale, S.C.

Empty motel, Allendale, S.C.
Empty motel, Allendale, S.C.

This abandoned motel on U.S. Highway 301 in rural Allendale, S.C., is almost across the road from another empty hotel we profiled in 2013.

Rural Allendale County in South Carolina’s southwest corner as one of the Crescent’s highest poverty rates — more than 40 percent of people live below the federal poverty level. The median household income is about $23,000 a year — half of South Carolina’s average and well below the nation’s $50,000 average.

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Closed barber shop, Fairfax, S.C.

Steward's Barber Shop, Fairfax, S.C.
Steward’s Barber Shop, Fairfax, S.C.

As we took a photo of a closed barber shop along U.S. Highway 321 in Fairfax, S.C., you could see a drug deal going on in broad daylight across the street at an intersection.

Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia.   Per capita income was $8,940.  About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.

Rural Allendale County in South Carolina’s southwest corner as one of the Crescent’s highest poverty rates — more than 40 percent of people live below the federal poverty level. The median household income is about $23,000 a year — half of South Carolina’s average and well below the nation’s $50,000 average.

Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack, Oct. 1, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Talmadge Mansion, Telfair County, Ga.

Talmadge Mansion, Telfair County, Ga.
Talmadge Mansion, Telfair County, Ga.

Former Atlanta Journal editor Jim Wooten bought and restored the “Talmadge Mansion” of the late Gov. Gene Talmadge in rural Telfair County, Ga., a few years back, as Elliott Brack write recently in GwinnettForum.com:

“In today’s world, this residence looks much like a Southern 5-4-and-a-door, with two-story white columns, red brick, and set about 100 yards back from the highway in a grove of pine trees. But it wasn’t built in today’s world, but constructed 77 years ago when most people in Telfair County probably didn’t have running water in their homes, and many had to bring out the buckets when it rained because of leaks in the roof.”

2014 copyrighted photo by Elliott Brack.  All rights reserved.