Featured – Page 13 – Building a better South

October 19, 2014October 19, 2014

Another closed grocery store, Fairfax, S.C.

The only grocery store in Fairfax, S.C., an IGA known as “Gatlin’s,” reportedly closed about a year ago. That followed an earlier closure of a Galaxy food mart profiled here in June 2013.

Today, the only grocery store that serves rural Allendale County is another IGA in Allendale, which means people from Fairfax have to drive to Allendale or Hampton just to buy groceries. [We’re told by Allendale-area residents that the Fairfax store may open again soon.]

“Food deserts” are often found in poor urban and rural communities because it’s hard to find grocery stores with lots of healthy options. People who live in food deserts may only have one store that stock more packaged and canned food than they do fresh foods. In turn, having fewer options tends to support unhealthy eating habits that lead to higher incidents of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity and more.

Map: “How to find a food desert near you,” NPR

With just over 40 percent of Allendale County’s 10,000 people living at or below the 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.

More about Allendale County from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

October 17, 2014October 15, 2014

Rural leaning tower, Colleton County, S.C.

This slightly off-kilter grain tower in the western part of Colleton County along S.C. Highway 641 reminded the photographer’s daughter of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Along the edge of the Southern Crescent, Colleton County is split by Interstate 95, which makes it poised for growth. Still, lots of the large county is rural. Walterboro is the seat of government in Colleton County, which is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

October 15, 2014

Fading painted icon, Colleton County, S.C.

Across much of the South, overt symbols of the past, such as the Confederate battle flag, are slowly fading into the past, much like the paint on this barn at Confederate Farm in the western part of Colleton County, S.C., on S.C. Highway 641.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

October 13, 2014October 11, 2014

Tiny post office, Sycamore, S.C.

Sycamore, a South Carolina village in Allendale County of about 180 people,has a tiny, one-room post office on Main Street just off the main highway. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. According to a 2011 story, this post office and 27 others across South Carolina were scheduled for closure.

Sycamore is about 60 percent white with a 35 percent black community of residents. Unlike the whole of Allendale County with its almost 40 percent poverty rate, poverty is comparatively low at 10 percent in Sycamore.

More about Allendale County from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.
More about Sycamore.

October 11, 2014

Spider lilies, Sycamore, S.C.

Spider lilies bloom across from Kerr-McGee Farm Center on Main Street in Sycamore, S.C.

These vibrant spider lilies were in bloom near a sidewalk on the grounds of town hall in tiny Sycamore, S.C., in Allendale County when we passed by in early October. A week later, the grass had been cut and the lilies were gone.

Sycamore, a village of about 180 people, is about 60 percent white with a 35 percent black community of residents. Unlike the whole of Allendale County with its almost 40 percent poverty rate, poverty is comparatively low at 10 percent in Sycamore.

More about Allendale County from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.
More about Sycamore.

October 9, 2014November 16, 2014

Vernacular house, Cummings, S.C.

We’re not really sure about the story behind this great, old vernacular house along the railroad tracks in tiny Cummings, S.C., a few miles southeast of Hampton. And while the house is boarded up and front door is open, it seems to still be getting some use as a storage area. No doubt, there a lots of stories that could be told about its better days.

Hampton County, located in the southern part of South Carolina, was home to 21,090 people in 2010, about 4,000 fewer than a century earlier. More. Some 22.6 percent of Hampton County residents live below the poverty line.

Hampton’s annual Watermelon Festival is the state’s longest, continually-running festival. The town of Hampton includes a brownfield of a former medical waste incinerator. More.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census

October 7, 2014November 16, 2014

Old barn, Jacksonboro, S.C.

Old barn in morning light, near Jacksonboro, S.C.

Note how the early morning sunlight made this old barn pop out of the shadows along S.C. Highway 264 near Jacksonboro, S.C., in rural Colleton County.

Along the edge of the Southern Crescent, the barn reflects a time gone by in a county that is poised for growth because of its proximity to Interstate 95 and the Charleston metropolitan area.

Walterboro is the seat of government in Colleton County. It is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

October 5, 2014

Old Sheldon Church

While the Old Sheldon Church isn’t technically in the Southern Crescent — missing it by being a few miles east of Yemassee, S.C., and the Hampton and Colleton county lines — it’s a fitting photo for a fall Sunday. With Spanish moss dripping from old oaks, the church dates to the mid 1700s and served as a symbol of the prosperity of South Carolina in pre-Revolutionary War days. Rebuilt later, it burned around the time of the Civil War.

These days, plantations line lazy rivers, but most people in this rural area are far from wealthy. Hampton County, for example, is home to about 21,000 people, some 22.6 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Colleton County, also nearby, has just over 38,000 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Learn more about the history of Old Sheldon Church from this entry (scroll down) excerpted from the S.C. Encyclopedia.

October 3, 2014October 2, 2014

Cotton, Colleton County, S.C.

A bale of cotton (500 pounds) can make about 1,200 T-shirts, according to cotton.org.

Old King Cotton is bustin’ out all over the South, including in this field near rural Ruffin, S.C., in Colleton County.

According to Cotton USA, about a third of the nation’s cotton is grown in fields from Alabama through Virginia. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, South Carolina ranked 10th nationally in production of cotton by growing 587,589 bales of the crop. As a comparison, Georgia, ranked second to Texas, grew 2.7 million in 2012.

October 1, 2014November 16, 2014

Run-down motel, Allendale, S.C.

Perhaps this image is the perfect characterization of poverty throughout the Southern Crescent. Not only is the word “crescent” misspelled in the sign outside this seemingly-abandoned motel in Allendale, S.C. But upon close scrutiny, it’s clear people are actually living in the rooms of this dilapidated place.

NOTE: This photo originally ran in September 2013, but we’re republishing today to remind people about the depth of poverty throughout the Southern Crescent.

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.

More about Allendale County from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.