Featured – Page 5 – Building a better South

June 20, 2015June 17, 2015

Two years later, Hampton, S.C.

Lee Street, Hampton, S.C. Photo by Michael Kaynard, 2013.

Compare the above photo of downtown Hampton, S.C., with this one taken almost two years earlier when construction was being done to revamp the central business district. Looks a lot better, huh?

The downtown appeared vibrant despite the fact that this Promise Zone county is home to 4,000 fewer people in 2010 than it was a century ago. More. Some 22.6 percent of Hampton County’s 21,900 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

June 17, 2015

Rolling, rolling, rolling, Yemassee, S.C.

Train crosses road near I-95 in Yemassee, S.C.

A CSX train loaded with wood chips and other cargo barrels down a track near Interstate 95 at Yemassee, S.C., on the edge of Hampton County.

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

June 14, 2015June 17, 2015

Old store, Cummings, S.C.

This old store, marked with the spray-painted word “sold” in a window, is very near this vernacular house in Cummings, S.C. (One of our favorite photos).

The store, replete with an area where gas pumps used to be, is in Hampton County, located in the southern part of South Carolina. It 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

June 11, 2015June 12, 2015

Empty house, Florence County, S.C.

This old house in the southern part of Florence County is an example of so many farmhouses across the South that are no longer in use, writes Kingstree photographer Linda W. Brown. “From its size, one can imagine that it was once home to a large farm family,” she writes.

June 2, 2015May 30, 2015

Adabelle, Bulloch County, Ga.

Adabelle Road, Bulloch County, Ga. — On the road to Adabelle, Bulloch County, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes that this old tenant cabin is on the road to Adabelle, Ga., south from Statesboro in Bulloch County.

“I’m not sure if it was associated with the Croatan Indian community that once thrived in the area. A nearby historic marker tells the store of the Croatan community:

“In 1870 a group of Croatan Indians migrated from their homes in Robeson County North Carolina, following the turpentine industry to southeast Georgia. Eventually many of the Croatans became tenant farmers for the Adabelle Trading Company, growing cotton and tobacco. The Croatan community established the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Adabelle, as well as a school and a nearby cemetery. After the collapse of the Adabelle Trading Company, the Croatans faced both economic hardship and social injustice. As a result, most members of the community returned to North Carolina by 1920. The tribe to which these families belonged became known as the Lumbee in the early 1950s.”

May 31, 2015May 30, 2015

Demolition, Kingstree, S.C.

After two years of debris blocking the sidewalk on Main Street in downtown Kingstree, S.C., this building has finally been demolished, photographer Linda W. Brown writes.

The roof had collapsed, pushing debris out onto the sidewalk. In the few weeks since this picture was taken, the facade of the building has also been taken down. The building was for many years used as a hardware store and was on the National Register of Historic Places as part of downtown Kingstree’s historic district.

May 28, 2015May 30, 2015

Bounty on the way

Corn field with wild daylilies, Orangeburg County, S.C.

It’s that time of year — the time of year that the land is producing acre upon acre of bountiful food. This corn field, along U.S. Highway 176 at the Calhoun-Orangeburg county line, illustrates the continuing importance of agribusiness to the Palmetto State. Coming soon: Fresh tomatoes, beans, squash and more. (Photo by Andy Brack)

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015

Business construction, Kingstree, S.C.

Construction is moving along apace on a new Family Dollar building on Main Street in downtown Kingstree on the spot once occupied by a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, writes photographer Linda W. Brown. She says the town already has two Family Dollar stores and, presumably, one will move into the new building. Kingstree also has two Dollar General stores.

May 16, 2015May 12, 2015

Lots of miles on this truck

Trucks seem to have a long life in Williamsburg County, S.C., as farmers use their equipment as long as it lasts, notes photographer Linda W. Brown, who spied this old truck on a farm between Cades and Hebron.

May 14, 2015May 12, 2015

Mothballed helicopters, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Old Coast Guard helicopters, Hebron Crossroads, S.C.

Seeing a fleet of mothballed Coast Guard helicopters — particularly in rural Williamsburg County — isn’t an everyday sight, notes Kingstree photographer Linda W. Brown.

“These old Coast Guard helicopters have been accumulating on the grounds of the old Hebron School. After the school closed, the building was used as a “sewing plant.”Once it, too, closed, it appears that the owner is using the grounds for helicopter “storage.” Note the guard dog! ”