Category: North Carolina

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Old shed, near Rocky Mount, N.C.

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Old shed near Rocky Mount, N.C.

 

In late December, we met Travis Starkey, a Greenville, N.C., resident who is trying to focus attention on strategies to deal with endemic poverty of his part of eastern North Carolina — which fits right in with what the Center for a Better South seeks to do.

As the second post of the new year, we offer his June 2014 photo of an old shed near Rocky Mount, N.C., to highlight Starkey’s online effort, dubbed “Greenfield Southeast.” (Rocky Mount is a town of about 57,000 people that is part of Edgecombe and Nash counties in eastern North Carolina.  About 19 percent of its residents live below the poverty line.)

Starkey explains in this post that there’s potential in the rural South in places like Rocky Mount that people often don’t see:

“It’s reasonable to assume that every community has unique assets and potential to create. Communities are collections of people, anchored around a place or other connective element. So my first assumption flows logically from another — all individuals have unique assets to share and deep potential to create. A community’s power, therefore,  lies in its ability to generate opportunities as an outgrowth of the connections its residents share. As a country, though, we tend to ignore the potential of towns like Plymouth [and Rocky Mount] to generate growth, assuming that growth is somehow impossible anywhere outside of a major city. …

 

“There are nearly 24 million people living in towns smaller than 20,000 in the South. Casually ignoring the potential of those towns, not to mention the growing disparities between urban and rural quality of life, is a perilous habit that we must break.”

Copyrighted photo by Travis Starkey taken June 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Green field, near Roper, N.C.

Green field, near Roper, N.C.
Green field, near Roper, N.C.

In late December, we met Travis Starkey, a Greenville, N.C., resident who is trying to focus attention on strategies to deal with endemic poverty of his part of eastern North Carolina — which fits right in with what the Center for a Better South seeks to do.

As the first post of the new year, we offer his 2013 photo of a green field near Roper, N.C., to highlight Starkey’s online effort, dubbed “Greenfield Southeast.” (Roper is a small town in rural Washington County, N.C.  About 27 percent of Roper’s residents live at or below the federal poverty level; some 22 percent of Washington County’s residents are at or below poverty.

Here’s how he explained his blog in 2013, which has evolved over the last year and a half:

“Over the past year, I have spent hundreds of hours attempting to understand the depth of what the South is currently enduring educationally and economically, especially the rural South. Heartened by the increased attention being paid to education outcomes in cities like Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans while also wary of the long-term viability of proposed improvements, I’ve moved forward – researching (and researching) and talking with anyone I can. I’ve also been inspired by technological innovations that could deepen learning and increase economic engagement in rural communities. Over time, though, my understanding of what would be truly helpful and should therefore be immediately acted-upon within either the education or economic space has grown increasingly unclear.

“Given all of this and the fact that I am now firmly planted in eastern North Carolina, I have decided to externalize this inner conversation in the hopes that doing so will bring clarity of purpose and action to me and others. With this blog, my hope is to bring attention to and instigate focused conversation around the unique educational and economic challenges facing citizens in the South, especially the rural South. There are numerous ways to frame the conversation; but I hope to frame it loosely around people, places, and ideas that are currently playing a role or could play a role in the continued progress of this region. And I aspire to write and engage not as an authority, but as a learner alongside many others whose thoughts and deeds will surely push the conversation forward.”

Photo is courtesy Travis Starkey and is copyrighted 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Abandoned house, near Enfield, N.C.

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The yellow trim around windows of this abandoned, bleached farm cottage near Enfield, N.C., caught the attention of photographer Michael Kaynard as he was heading south on U.S. Highway 301 in late March, 2013.

“From what we could see through the windows, it had once been a fairly decent dwelling, although small by today’s standards.  Nearby was a trailer that appeared to be the replacement home,” he observed.  “When I see small houses sitting next to plowed fields, I wonder how people could raise an entire family in what is not much larger than our den.  Now we have to live in homes that are 2,500 sq. ft. or larger or we feel we are in cramped quarters.”

  • More photos by Kaynard are at:  Kaynard Photography.
  • First published May 1, 2013.  All rights reserved.
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Decaying barn, near Pleasant Hill, N.C.

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When driving north on U.S. Highway 17 in North Carolina just before crossing into Virginia, this barn stands near the town of Pleasant Hill.  Nearby is an abandoned farmhouse.  Both reminded photographer Michael Kaynard of the general decay of older homesteads along the highway in rural areas.

“We drove through one beaten-down town after another.  We also experienced the same decaying buildings.  It was a reminder that everything is not alright in America.  There is a lot more poverty and struggling families than I imagined.  I guess if you don’t see it then it does not exist.

“I think everyone should take the time to see a portion of their country by riding the roads.  It will certainly make you appreciate where you live and what you have.  I know it certainly did for me.  I love riding the roads but seeing some of the things on this last trip was disturbing.”

Photo taken April 2013 by Michael Kaynard.  All rights reserved.  Originally posted May 3, 2013.

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Deserted complex, Dunn, N.C.

Deserted tourist complex, near Dunn, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.
Deserted tourist complex, near Dunn, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.

A tourist complex — motel, gas station and restaurant — are abandoned off an exit of Interstate 95 near Dunn, N.C., obvious victim to the recent recession.

The Southern Crescent follows the Interstate from the Tidewater part of Virginia around Emporia and across the Carolinas before it veers southwesterly near Savannah, Ga.  Millions of people live in these mostly rural, agricultural parts of the American South.  Distinguishing characteristics include high poverty rates, little new opportunities, struggling tax bases and high incidences of health problems.  See our maps on this site to get more perspective.

Dunn, which had a population of 9,582 in 2012, is rural enough to experience a high poverty rate — 27.5 percent — but is part of the Raleigh metropolitan area, which provides more opportunity for residents than in many Southern communities.  Raleigh’s influence is seen in how Hartnett County has more than 120,000 residents.

Photo taken July 21, 2013 by Better South President Andy Brack.  All rights reserved.

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Barn, near Rowland, N.C.

Barn along Interstate 95 near Rowland, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.
Barn along Interstate 95 near Rowland, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.

This quaint old barn sits in a field next to the mobile home and farmhouse profiled in our Aug. 12 post.  It’s located near Rowland, N.C., about a mile north of the famous South of the Border attraction at the South Carolina-North Carolina line along Interstate 95.

Rowland had 1,146 people in 2000, including more than 30 percent in poverty.  It’s also part of Robeson County, which is considered a majority-minority county (as are about 10 percent in the country) because its populations of native Americans, blacks and Hispancs total more than 50 percent.

In 2012, Robeson County had an estimated 135,496 people comprised of 39 percent American Indians, 32.8 percent whites, 24.7 percent blacks and 8.2 percent Hispanic, according to the Census.  Some 30.6 percent of county residents lived at or below the federal poverty level.

Photo taken July 26, 2013, by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South.  All rights reserved.

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Two homes, near Rowland, N.C.

Mobile home next to old farmhouse, near Rowland, N.C.
Mobile home next to old farmhouse, near Rowland, N.C.

So this is how it is in parts of the rural South — a family’s mobile home is where they live while the old farmhouse they grew up in is next door.  These homesteads are just off Interstate 95 outside of Rowland, N.C., near the South Carolina border and its infamous South of the Border attraction.

Rowland had 1,146 people in 2000, including more than 30 percent in poverty.  It’s also part of Robeson County, which is considered a majority-minority county (as are about 10 percent in the country) because its populations of native Americans, blacks and Hispancs total more than 50 percent.

In 2012, Robeson County had an estimated 135,496 people comprised of 39 percent American Indians, 32.8 percent whites, 24.7 percent blacks and 8.2 percent Hispanic, according to the Census.  Some 30.6 percent of county residents lived at or below the federal poverty level.

Photo taken July 26, 2013, by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South.  All rights reserved.

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Closed restaurant, Henderson, N.C.

Old Tip Top Restaurant, Henderson, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.
Old Tip Top Restaurant, Henderson, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.

We bet the meat-and-three lunch specials at the Tip Top Restaurant on Garnett Street in Henderson, N.C., were outstanding in their day.  More than likely, the workers from the cotton mill just down the street flooded into the place in days gone by.  [See our entry on the mill.]

But the Tip Top doesn’t offer three home-cooked meals anymore, a sure victim of globalization and today’s economic times in the Southern Crescent.  A review from 2003 recalls the restaurant as having a relaxed atmosphere that offered good food, “just like being at home.”   Said the reviewer:  “‘Eating Out Can Be Fun” has been their slogan for 48 years!'”

Henderson, part of Vance County, had 15,320 people in 2010, according to Census estimates. Almost two thirds of residents are black. A third of residents live at or below the federal poverty level.  In April 2013, the county’s unemployment rate was 11.7 percent.

Photo taken July 24, 2013 by Andy Brack, © 2013. All rights reserved.

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Gutted textile mill, Henderson, N.C.

Gutting of Henderson Cotton Mill, Henderson, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.
Gutting of Henderson Cotton Mill, Henderson, N.C. Photo by Andy Brack.

You can see how the interior of the old Henderson Cotton Mill is gutted into a pile of bricks in the center of this photo.

The photo represents the flip side of a story of huge success at the beginning of the last century.  Now as the mill is being razed and salvage workers are removing valuable old wood and bricks, the mill is a testament to how America’s textile industry went overseas.  Once the driver of Henderson’s economy, the yarn mill and nearby sister mill represent the gutting of the rural South’s economic engine.

“The reason they’re tearing down is they can’t afford the taxes on it,” a 37-year plant veteran told the local newspaper. “The buildings are in good shape, but it was the taxes. Nobody who worked there likes to see this. We all hate to see it go, but what can you do?”

The Henderson Cotton Mill, organized in 1895, got started the following year on the north side of Henderson. Its success led to the opening of another mill, the Harriet Cotton Mill, on the south side of the town in 1901. Both mills were major producers of cotton yarn, according to NCPedia.

The mills joined organized labor in 1943. By the end of the 1950s with modernization and global competition, workers agreed to strike, which closed the mills until February 1959 when the owners reopened with non-union workers. A contract was negotiated by that April, but by the time the strike ended in 1961, more than 60 union members or sympathizers were tried and convicted of various acts of violence, the site said.

The Henderson and Harriet mills apparently consolidated in 1995 as Harriet & Henderson Yarns, but filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and closed its doors, according to the University of North Carolina University Libraries.

Henderson, part of Vance County, had 15,320 people in 2010, according to Census estimates. Almost two thirds of residents are black. A third of residents live at or below the federal poverty level.

Photo taken July 24, 2013 by Andy Brack, © 2013. All rights reserved.