Category: South Carolina

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Near the Pig, Orangeburg, S.C.

Russell Street, Orangeburg, S.C.
Russell Street, Orangeburg, S.C.

This crumbling corner on Russell Street near the center of downtown in Orangeburg, S.C., illustrates the challenge that the inner city is having to attract businesses to lure residents to spend time in their downtown.  Despite an attractive central downtown renovation and business like Piggly Wiggly, which you can see in back of this apparently empty old service station, there are few big-name retailers to draw people downtown.

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.

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

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Downtown park, Orangeburg, S.C.

Downtown Orangeburg, S.C.
Downtown Orangeburg, S.C.

This fountain and brick area in the middle of downtown Orangeburg provides a central oasis of sorts.  Nearby are big local churches and lots of small businesses from finance shops to hair boutiques.  The old square area also features a Confederate statue.

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.

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

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Tin cabin, Orangeburg County, S.C.

Old cabin, Orangeburg County, S.C.
Old cabin, Orangeburg County, S.C.

This old one-room cabin with a tin roof is just inside Orangeburg County on U.S. Highway 178 near the Dorchester County line.  Although it’s seen its better days, you can imagine tenant farmers from 80 or more years ago sitting on the front porch.

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.

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

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Pothole, Orangeburg County, S.C.

Pothole, near Bowman, S.C.
Pothole, near Bowman, S.C.

This pothole on U.S. Highway 178 east of Bowman is just one of a gazillion pitting South Carolina roads.  The state has an estimated $27 billion in road and bridge maintenance needs to bring its extensive highway system to being good.  But lawmakers continue to shy from raising the state’s gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation.

Photo by Andy Brack, April 23, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Windows, Cades, S.C.

Rusting awning, Cades, S.C.
Rusting awning, Cades, S.C.

A rusting awning covers windows on a house that is showing some signs of renovation in Cades, a small community 10 miles north of Kingstree, S.C., in Williamsburg County, writes retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown.  Once a thriving railroad town, Cades is now known as a crossroad on U.S. Highway 52.

Photo by Linda W. Brown taken April 17, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Mill Dam Road, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Dirt road, Williamsburg County, S.C.
Dirt 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.

Copyrighted photo by Linda W. Brown, taken April 17, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Vacant farmhouse, Wiliamsburg County, S.C.

Vacant farmhouse, Suttons community, Williamsburg 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.

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.

Copyrighted photo is by Linda W. Brown; taken November 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Erosion, Clarendon County, S.C.

Soil erosion, Clarendon County, S.C.
Soil 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.

Copyrighted photo by Linda W. Brown taken March 30, 2014.  All rights reserved.

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Wooden bridge, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Wooden bridge, Williamsburg County, S.C.
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.

Photo is copyrighted by Linda W. Brown.  All rights reserved.

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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.

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.

Copyrighted photo is by Linda W. Brown; taken April 2013.  All rights reserved.