Category: Featured

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Tree tunnel, Orangeburg County, S.C.

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This jungle of trees over a dusty dirt road in rural Orangeburg County is a familiar site along the Southern and Gulf coasts.

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.  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.

Copyrighted photo was taken April 23, 2014 by Andy Brack.  All rights reserved.

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For sale, near Orangeburg, S.C.

For sale, Orangeburg County, S.C.
For sale, Orangeburg County, S.C.

This old farmhouse might look a little worn, but it has good bones, according to a neighbor. The home, along the Charleston Highway just to the southeast of Orangeburg, S.C., has been abandoned for a year.  Former residents reportedly took a lot of the copper piping out of the dwelling, but the neighbor said the roof is good and only minor work needs to be done to make it habitable. It is on the market apparently for around $40,000.

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.  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.

Copyrighted photo was taken April 23, 2014 by Andy Brack.  All rights reserved.

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Time 4 Change, Orangeburg, S.C.

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Time 4 Change, Orangeburg, S.C.

 

The political graffiti from a recent presidential campaign still marks this abandoned store in Orangeburg, S.C., at the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and Tyler Road.  Across the street is a stark trailer park with two dozen identical, gray mobile homes and few trees.

Orangeburg County is home to more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black.  The county, which has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, is strongly Democratic.  Wags, however, might note that the graffiti today represents a dream for change that may be stale.  Proponents might say it is still very much alive, particularly in Orangeburg County.

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.

Copyrighted photo was taken April 23, 2014 by Andy Brack.  All rights reserved.

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All that’s left, Jordan, Ga.

Tiny store, Jordan, Ga.
Tiny store, Jordan, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes that this tiny store is about all that’s left in the settlement of Jordan in rural Wheeler County, Ga.

According to 2011 poverty estimates by the U.S. Census, Wheeler County, which had 7,421 people in 2010, had a 42.2 percent poverty rate.  What’s remarkable about that is it is one of the few high-poverty counties where the overall rate is higher than the rate for children under 18.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

Copyrighted photo taken in March 2014 by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Storefronts, Alamo, Ga.

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VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown offers this view of storefronts along Railroad Street in Alamo, Ga., as well as several other photos of the area around Wheeler County’s seat of government.

According to 2011 poverty estimates by the U.S. Census, Wheeler County, which had 7,421 people in 2010, had a 42.2 percent poverty rate.  What’s remarkable about that is it is one of the few high-poverty counties where the overall rate is higher than the rate for children under 18.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

Copyrighted photo taken in March 2014 by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Water towers, Alamo, Ga.

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Here’s a view of Railroad Street in Alamo, Ga., the seat of government in Wheeler County, which has the highest rate of poverty in the state.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes:  “The modern independent hardware store in the foreground is a nice contrast to the old agricultural warehouses and water towers. Dot H. Brown writes that her father, J. F. Hattaway and his business partner Cecil Carroll built and operated the cotton gin and warehouses until about 1970.”

According to 2011 poverty estimates by the U.S. Census, Wheeler County, which had 7,421 people in 2010, had a 42.2 percent poverty rate.  What’s remarkable about that is it is one of the few high-poverty counties where the overall rate is higher than the rate for children under 18.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

Copyrighted photo taken in March 2014 by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Wildflowers

Spiderwort along a South Carolina roadway.
Spiderwort along a South Carolina roadway.

It’s not hard these days to find wildflowers growing in ditches throughout the Southern Crescent region as spring sneaks up on us and leads to summer. Pictured is spiderwort, known by the three petals and six yellow stamen on each flower.

Photo taken April 20, 2014 by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.

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Old tenant house near Dublin, Ga.

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VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown sent along this photo of an old tenant house near Dublin, Ga., in Laurens County.

Dublin suffered during the recent recession as the unemployment rate for Laurens County, where Dublin (population 16,201) is the county seat, rose to  13.8 percent in July 2011.  Two years later it was about two points lower, but was down to 9.4 percent in December 2013, according to federal government data found at this site.

Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty, according to Census data

Photo by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Storefronts, Glenwood, Ga.

Storefronts, Glenwood, Ga.
Storefronts, Glenwood, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown snapped this image of storefronts in rural Glenwood, Ga., population 884.

Glenwood is in Wheeler County, one of the poorest counties in the Southern Crescent.  According to 2011 poverty estimates by the U.S. Census, Wheeler County, which had 7,421 people in 2010, had a 42.2 percent poverty rate.  What’s remarkable about that is it is one of the few high-poverty counties where the overall rate is higher than the rate for children under 18.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

Copyrighted photo by Brian Brown.  All rights reserved.

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Grand house, Dexter, Ga.

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We’re still wondering about the story behind this grand house a few miles west of Dexter, Ga., on Georgia Highway 338.  It’s got, as they say in the housing industry, great bones and appeared to be under renovation.  It’s a little hard to see the beauty of the home, which might remind you of Faulkner’s Rowan Oaks, because of the afternoon shadows from all of the shade trees surrounding it.

Dexter has about 500 people and is a few miles southwest of Dublin, the county seat for Laurens County.  Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

Photo taken Feb. 15, 2014 by Andy Brack.  All rights reserved.