Georgia – Page 7 – Building a better South

January 14, 2014November 16, 2014

Farmhouse and silos, Emmalane, Ga.

Old farmhouse and silos, Emmalane community, Jenkins County, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown sent along this typical Georgia country scene about four miles southwest of Millen — an old Victorian farmhouse surrounded by silos, farm implements, dirt roads and mud puddles.

Remind you a little bit of some of the descriptions of eastern Georgia from Tobacco Road (1932) author Erskine Caldwell? Nearby on Brown’s photoblog, you can find other neat stuff around the Emmalane community: Brinson’s Bar-B-Que (“a well-loved institution in Jenkins County … three slices, of Sunbeam bread, a generous helping of potato salad and Brinson’s sweet tea complete this classic Southern meal”), Skull Creek Baptist Church and an old general store.

Jenkins County, whose county seat is Millen, was home to 9,213 people, according to the U.S. Census in 2012, an increase of 10 percent from two years earlier. Almost 30 percent of residents live in poverty.

January 12, 2014

Car wash, Millen, Ga.

The bright color and mural on this car wash in Millen, Ga., caught the discerning eye of VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown.

Millen, which had a population of 3,492 in 2000, is the county seat of Jenkins County, which was home to 9,213 people, according to the U.S. Census in 2012, an increase of 10 percent from two years earlier. Almost 30 percent of residents live in poverty.

January 8, 2014November 16, 2014

Abandoned house, Millen, Ga.

Joseph and Lucinda Applewhite House, Millen, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes that this old Neoclassical Revival home is currently for sale in Millen in eastern Georgia. The house, said to have been built in 1892-93 and named the “Joseph and Lucinda Applewhite House,” reportedly did not have the columns when originally built in the Queen Anne style. The columns were said to have been added in the 1980s during a renovation.

One person who saw the photo of the home in Millen, which had a population of 3,492 in 2000, wrote, “There’s nothing lonelier than an abandoned house. Oh, the memories that were made there.”

Millen is the county seat of Jenkins County, which was home to 9,213 people, according to the U.S. Census in 2012, an increase of 10 percent from two years earlier. Almost 30 percent of residents live in poverty.

January 6, 2014November 16, 2014

Historic church, Jenkins County, Ga.

Carswell Grove Baptist Church, Jenkins County, Ga.

The historic Carswell Grove Baptist Church, pictured above, about 10 miles northwest of Millen, Ga., has a complicated history, writes Georgia photographer Brian Brown in this post on VanishingSouthGeorgia.com. The current church building, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed in 1919 after a lynch mob burned down its predecessor during a time of racial violence that was known as “Red Summer.”

According to an excerpt of an article in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, the church had one of the largest black congregations in eastern Georgia in 1919. An April 13 of that year as hundreds gathered to celebrate its founding, an altercation broke out after two white police officers arrived. Both police officers and a black man were killed. Another man, Joe Ruffin, was severely wounded. According to the story, which writer Cameron McWhirter published as a book in 2011(Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America):

“A white mob quickly formed and went on a rampage. The mob burned the church down, then killed two of Ruffin’s sons—one of them a thirteen-year-old. Rioters threw the bodies in the flames, then spread out through the area, burning black lodges, churches, and cars. They killed several other people; no one knows how many. The wounded Joe Ruffin was saved from the lynch mob only because a white county commissioner drove him at high speed to the nearest big city, Augusta, and put him in the county jail there.”

Brown said efforts were ongoing to preserve and stabilize the current church structure.

November 28, 2013November 25, 2013

Restored church, Oliver, Ga.

Here’s a photo that’s perfect for Thanksgiving. It’s an old Methodist church turned into a venue for special events, like today’s holiday.

The church (ca. 1908) in Oliver, Ga., between Statesboro and Savannah sat vacant for about 10 years before being bought and restored three years ago, according to its owner. Now a venue for weddings and other events, the church is interesting to some because of its Star of David windows.

Oliver, population 253 in 2000, is slightly over half black. An estimated 31 percent of residents are at or below the federal poverty line. Oliver is in Screven County, which got started after the Revolutionary War and soon became part of the Black Belt of Georgia where cotton became an important staple crop tended by enslaved African Americans.

The county’s population jumped from 3,019 in 1800 to 8,274 by 1860, according to Census figures. While it had 14,593 people in 2010, the county lost an estimated 391 people — 2.7 percent — by 2012, according to the U.S. Census. In 2010, Some 25.4 percent of county residents lived below the federal poverty level, 9 points higher than the state average.

More QuickFacts from the U.S. Census

Screven County in Wikipedia

November 26, 2013November 25, 2013

Hauling lumber, Cooperville, Ga.

Here’s a typical scene across the rural South — a log truck hauling lumber to be processed into 2x4s or pulverized into pulp for mills.

These days, the forest products market in the U.S. is considered optimistic in the near-term, according to a 2013 report by USEndowment.org. And that, should help the rural South. In the longer term, the market faces challenges and opportunities, according to the report.

In the photo above, the truck was turning off U.S. Highway 301 in Cooperville, Ga., in Screven County and heading toward Savannah. The county, which had 2,675 people in 2000, according to the Census, got started after the Revolutionary War and soon became part of the Black Belt of Georgia where cotton became an important staple crop tended by enslaved African Americans.

More QuickFacts from the U.S. Census

Screven County in Wikipedia

November 24, 2013November 24, 2013

Abandoned chair, Statesboro, Ga.

This photo can be taken in almost any rural Southern town — an abandoned piece of furniture tossed onto the side of the road.

This upholstered chair is near a housing project in Statesboro, Ga., where about 50 percent of the town’s population lives in poverty, according to the U.S. Census. While it’s likely that most of those living in “poverty” really are students who live cheaply in shared apartments, you can find evidence of poverty if you look around.

Statesboro is 54 percent white and 40 percent black. Its median household income is $19,554, according to the Census. It also is the county seat of Bulloch County, which has 72,694 people (2012), two thirds of which are white. Just over 30 percent of residents live in poverty. The median household income for the county is $33,902.

Quickfacts on Statesboro and Bulloch County, Ga.
Wikipedia’s entry on Statesboro and Bulloch County

November 22, 2013November 24, 2013

Clothes line, Statesboro, Ga.

While it is unclear whether Statesboro, Georgia’s poverty rate is artificially high because all of the students who attend Georgia Southern University, there are parts of the community where it’s clear that there are a lot of needs. This photo shows a housing project in the western part of the city.

U.S. Census data show more than 50 percent of Statesboro’s 29,779 people live at or below the federal poverty level. The community is 54 percent white and 40 percent black. Its median household income is $19,554, according to the Census.

Statesboro is the county seat of Bulloch County, which has 72,694 people (2012), two thirds of which are white. Just over 30 percent of residents live in poverty. The median household income for the county is $33,902.

Quickfacts on Statesboro and Bulloch County, Ga.
Wikipedia’s entry on Statesboro and Bulloch County

November 20, 2013November 21, 2013

Yellow house, Statesboro, Ga.

Quickfacts on Statesboro and Bulloch County, Ga.
Wikipedia’s entry on Statesboro and Bulloch County

November 18, 2013November 18, 2013

Busy college campus, Statesboro, Ga.

13.1118_statesborobikes — Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Ga.

More than 20,000 students attend Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, which is in the middle of the eastern part of the Peach State.

During a visit to the college’s modern campus, there are a lot of modern buildings, such as the College of Education above, as well as hundreds of student apartments that ring the campus.

While poverty isn’t as visible here as in rural farming communities, U.S. Census data show more than 50 percent of Statesboro’s 29,779 people live at or below the federal poverty level. As best as we can figure, the Census must be counting college students, who may make the community look statistically poorer than it is. (Anybody know differently or have a better explanation?)

The community is 54 percent white and 40 percent black. Its median household income is $19,554, according to the Census. If the Bureau is counting college students, the skewed demographics that Statesboro is experiencing can have a dramatic impact because it won’t be able to attract medium- and higher-end stores and shops. In a story told us by a newspaperman during a September visit, we learned that a major grocer won’t move to town because of Statesboro’s relatively low median household income. And that’s a shame because the community seems like it’s got a lot going for it — something the fast-food chains certainly have discovered.

Quickfacts on Statesboro and Bulloch County, Ga.
Wikipedia’s entry on Statesboro and Bulloch County