Category: South Carolina

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Closed, Orangeburg, S.C.

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There’s a padlocked chain-link fence around what obviously was a public housing complex in Orangeburg, S.C.  The units, boarded up with decaying plywood, are located near the intersection of Boulevard and Wannamaker streets about a mile from S.C. State University’s campus in a neighborhood with homes of wide-ranging value.

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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Bingo City, Orangeburg, S.C.

Bingo City, Orangeburg, S.C.
Bingo City, Orangeburg, S.C.
Less than two blocks from a revitalized downtown main square in Orangeburg, S.C., with clear signage, flowers, shade trees, brick paths and more is this desolate parking lot featuring “Bingo City.”
While the downtown redevelopment is attractive, it appears to be a hopeful step in reenergizing the downtown with lots of business.  Unfortunately, a mishmash of second- and third-tier businesses are all that generally remain:  battered storefronts for cheap clothing stores, religious bookshops, barber and beauty shops, dime stores, furniture stores and finance agencies.
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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Neglected, Bowman, S.C.

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Abandoned agricultural buildings, near Bowman, S.C.

 

These old buildings along U.S. Highway 178 just south of the town limits of Bowman, S.C., are abandoned, given up to invading vines, trees and neglect.  You can imagine how they were busy in their heyday when small-farm agriculture boomed.

The red-brick-colored buildings are in Orangeburg County, 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. Bowman, chartered in 1894, has just under 1,000 people.

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

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Silos, near Bowman, S.C.

Silos, near Bowman, S.C.
Silos, near Bowman, S.C.

These empty silos off appropriately-named Holstein Road in rural Orangeburg County are waiting to be filled with crops that recently have been planted.

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. Bowman, by contrast, has just under 1,000 people.

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

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70s sign, near Bowman, S.C.

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Pen Davis Grocery, near Bowman, S.C.

 

This floral, colorful 1970s 7-Up sign outside the old Pen Davis Grocery south of Bowman, S.C.,  on U.S. Highway 178 evokes an uplifting sense of days gone by, despite the slow decay of the store.

14.0505.signThe abandoned rural store, which sports at least two “no trespassing” signs, is in Orangeburg County, 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. Bowman, by contrast, has just under 1,000 people.

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

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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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Waring statue, Charleston, S.C.

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The late U.S. District Judge J. Waties Waring of Charleston, S.C., is being honored Friday with a statue that is a fitting remembrance for his huge role in ending segregation.

Waring became a social outcast in the late 1940s and early 1950s for civil rights rulings which culminated with a dissent in Briggs v. Elliott from rural Clarendon County, a Crescent county today.  Waring’s dissent is notable because it became the backbone for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that ended segregation in public schools.

Photo by Michael Kaynard.  All rights reserved.