Featured – Page 19 – Building a better South

May 28, 2014

Mill Dam Road, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Over 1,000 miles of dirt roads criss-cross the 937 square miles of rural Williamsburg County, retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C. writes.

“The county’s public works department is responsible for maintaining these roads, which is a large expense in the county’s budget, so much so that the county charges residents an annual $15 road maintenance fee in addition to regular property taxes. This one, Mill Dam Road, is in northeastern Williamsburg County.

Williamsburg County, which is about 75 miles north of Charleston, S.C., has a population of just under 34,000 people. 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.

Williamsburg County on Wikipedia.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

May 24, 2014

Vacant farmhouse, Wiliamsburg County, S.C.

Vacant farmhouse, Suttons community, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Rusted-roofed, vacant farmhouses are not an uncommon sight in rural Williamsburg County, writes retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown. This one is in the Suttons Community in southern Williamsburg County.

Williamsburg County, which is about 75 miles north of Charleston, S.C., has a population of just under 34,000 people. Population peaked in 1950 at 43,807, but has dropped slowly since then.

Williamsburg County on Wikipedia.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

May 22, 2014

Erosion, Clarendon County, S.C.

Strong March winds caused erosion of topsoil in this disked, but unplanted, field near the Sardinia community of Clarendon County. Across the rural South, modern farmers are seeking to protect land from agricultural erosion. See this report.

This photo by retired Kingstree editor Linda W. Brown is our 200th post of Southern images on Southern Crescent. Hooray for us.

May 20, 2014

Wooden bridge, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Wooden bridges are not an uncommon sight on dirt roads in South Carolina’s rural counties, writes retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C. The bridge above is on Smith Swamp Road in northeastern Williamsburg County.

May 16, 2014November 16, 2014

Red field, near Kingstree, S.C.

Field of sorrel, Clarendon County, S.C. — Field of sorrel, Williamsburg County, S.C.

By springtime, most agricultural fields once were under cultivation, writes retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C. But this Williamsburg County field near Kingstree has been taken over by common sorrel, an herb often viewed as a weed with small bright red to purple flowers. “The changing agricultural outlook leaves many of them [fields] fallow,” she writes.

Williamsburg County, which is about 75 miles north of Charleston, S.C., has a population of just under 34,000 people. Population peaked in 1950 at 43,807, but has dropped slowly since then.

Williamsburg County on Wikipedia.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

May 14, 2014

Closed, Orangeburg, S.C.

There’s a padlocked chain-link fence around what obviously was a public housing complex in Orangeburg, S.C. The units, boarded up with decaying plywood, are located near the intersection of Boulevard and Wannamaker streets about a mile from S.C. State University’s campus in a neighborhood with homes of wide-ranging value.

The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people.

Orangeburg County is home to more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

May 12, 2014May 12, 2014

Bingo City, Orangeburg, S.C.

Less than two blocks from a revitalized downtown main square in Orangeburg, S.C., with clear signage, flowers, shade trees, brick paths and more is this desolate parking lot featuring “Bingo City.”

While the downtown redevelopment is attractive, it appears to be a hopeful step in reenergizing the downtown with lots of business. Unfortunately, a mishmash of second- and third-tier businesses are all that generally remain: battered storefronts for cheap clothing stores, religious bookshops, barber and beauty shops, dime stores, furniture stores and finance agencies.

Orangeburg County is home to more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

May 10, 2014May 10, 2014

Neglected, Bowman, S.C.

14.0510.redbarns — Abandoned agricultural buildings, near Bowman, S.C.

These old buildings along U.S. Highway 178 just south of the town limits of Bowman, S.C., are abandoned, given up to invading vines, trees and neglect. You can imagine how they were busy in their heyday when small-farm agriculture boomed.

The red-brick-colored buildings are in Orangeburg County, home too more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent. The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people. Bowman, chartered in 1894, has just under 1,000 people.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

May 8, 2014May 8, 2014

Silos, near Bowman, S.C.

These empty silos off appropriately-named Holstein Road in rural Orangeburg County are waiting to be filled with crops that recently have been planted.

Orangeburg County is home too more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent. The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people. Bowman, by contrast, has just under 1,000 people.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

May 6, 2014May 5, 2014

70s sign, near Bowman, S.C.

14.0506.7upstore — Pen Davis Grocery, near Bowman, S.C.

This floral, colorful 1970s 7-Up sign outside the old Pen Davis Grocery south of Bowman, S.C., on U.S. Highway 178 evokes an uplifting sense of days gone by, despite the slow decay of the store.

The abandoned rural store, which sports at least two “no trespassing” signs, is in Orangeburg County, home too more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent. The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people. Bowman, by contrast, has just under 1,000 people.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.