South Carolina – Page 18 – Building a better South

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014

Depot, Ehrhardt, S.C.

The front half of this old railroad depot in Ehrhardt, S.C., has been renovated into a place that reportedly has periodic auctions. The inside looks like a little cafe. The rear part of the depot, for which there are no railroad tracks these days, hasn’t been restored.

Ehrhardt, a town of about 600 people, is in rural Bamberg County where 27 percent of its 15,763 people live below the federal poverty level, according to 2012 Census estimates. The majority of residents are black (61.4 percent) with whites comprising 36.8 percent.

QuickFacts about Bamberg County from the U.S. Census.
Learn about Ehrhardt in Wikipedia.

January 18, 2014November 16, 2014

Green trim, Ehrhardt, S.C.

Green trim around old cabin, Ehrhardt, S.C.

The bright green trim around this deteriorating cottage just inside Ehrhardt on U.S. Highway 601 is about all that’s left that doesn’t look worn.

The town of about 600 people is in rural Bamberg County where 27 percent of its 15,763 people live below the federal poverty level, according to 2012 Census estimates. The majority of residents are black (61.4 percent) with whites comprising 36.8 percent.

QuickFacts about Bamberg County from the U.S. Census.
Learn about Ehrhardt in Wikipedia.

January 10, 2014January 18, 2014

Falling, near Timmonsville, S.C.

Leaning tobacco barn outside Timmonsville, S.C.

Charleston architect Steve Coe sent along this picture of an old tobacco barn falling down on S.C. Highway 403 just north of Timmonsville, S.C.

“Every time I drive past, this the building leans just a little bit more,” he writes. “It’s as if the earth is slowly taking it back. It represents a time long since passed, but also it reminds me how everything is ‘of the earth.’

“As much as I like the building, I also feel something nostalgic about the piece of farm equipment discarded in front of the barn — how it got there, the last time someone touched it. Just something interesting about this ‘decay’ that goes on day in, day out as I go about my life.”

In 2010, Timmonsville had 2,315 people. Ten years later, it had grown by five people. Per capita income for the town was $11,714 in 2000. Timmonsville’s poverty rate was 26.6 percent in 2000, much higher than its home county, Florence, which had 19.4 percent poverty in 2010. Florence, just a few miles away from Timmonsville, is the largest city in the Pee Dee with 37,498 people in 2012. Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 estimate.

More on Timmonsville from Wikipedia.
QuickFacts about Florence County and the City of Florence.
Read a proposal by the Center for a Better South’s Andy Brack on protecting old tobacco barns.

January 4, 2014

Saturday morning, Walterboro, S.C.

14.0104.hardees — Two guys talking at the Hardee’s in Walterboro, S.C.

These two guys talk after a Saturday breakfast at the Hardee’s in Walterboro, S.C. Across the South, fast food restaurants are taking the place of local diners where people have met for years to discuss community business and to gossip a little.

Walterboro, which has lost about 100 people since 2010, has a population of 5,309 people. 38 percent of whom live in poverty. Walterboro is the county seat of Colleton County, a Southern Crescent county split by Interstate 95.

Colleton County, which also has a small piece of coastline, is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014

Library, Greeleyville, S.C.

The McCollum-Murray House in Greeleyville, S.C., has been restored and is now used as a branch of the Williamsburg County Library, writes retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree. The building, once the home of Dr. C.E. Murray, is on the National Register.

“This is an innovative use of resources for a small town,” writes Brown.

The house was built at the turn of the 20th century for a successful African-American couple. To learn more about the building, its renovation and transformation into a public library, click here for an interesting Power Point presentation.

Greeleyville, pictured here, is a town of 438 people that once thrived in southwestern Williamsburg County. Just under 34,000 people now live in the county, which is about the number who lived there in 1900, according to Census figures. 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.

December 30, 2013November 16, 2014

Farmhouse, Lane, S.C.

Lane, S.C., was once a busy railroad hub that boasted two hotels, several successful businesses and a number of large houses, writes retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown.

“While some of the houses are still well-maintained, this one is fading fast,” she says.

These days, Lane, which is in Williamsburg County, has about 600 people.

Just under 34,000 people live in Williamsburg County, which is about the number who lived there in 1900, according to Census figures. Population peaked in 1950 at 43,807, but has dropped slowly since then.

December 28, 2013

Roadside store, Trio, S.C.

This old store in Trio, S.C., is across the street from the former Bank of Trio. Retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown of nearby Kingstree says it’s “just another example of how once thriving country stores have fallen victim to our greater mobility.”

Trio (pronounced Try-o) was once a thriving community in southern Williamsburg County founded by the three Bryan brothers, writes Brown. The area’s main industries were lumber, turpentine and agriculture.

“The Bank of Trio is long gone, but the building still remains as a reminder of more prosperous days,” she says.

December 26, 2013December 26, 2013

Empty home near historic school, Summerton, S.C.

Abandoned house near historic school, Summerton, S.C.

Just over the top of the front roof of this abandoned house in Summerton, S.C., you can see the American flag waving at the historic Scott’s Branch school. The Clarendon County school sits on the site that saw the start of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education education case in South Carolina.

Way back in 1947, the NAACP agreed to sponsor a federal case after black parents sued for inferior conditions in the Clarendon County schools. In short, they wanted money to help pay for gas for a secondhand bus provided by the county. The case, Briggs v. Elliott, became the “first case filed, tried and appealed to the Supreme Court challenging segregation in public schools,” according to a 2011 National Law Journal article by Leon Friedman and U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel. The article is a tribute to the courage of the late U.S. District Judge Waties Waring, whose historic dissent sent the Briggs case to the high court.

These days, the historic Scott’s Branch school has been recovered with a bright blue metal roof. It is used these days as a community resource center.

Summerton has about 1,000 people. Clarendon County has 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate. About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black. Some other statistics:

High school graduation rate of those 25 or older: 76.3 percent.
Bachelor’s degree graduates: 13.8 percent
Median household income: $33,267
Poverty rate: 22.8 percent
Unemployment rate, November 2013: 9.9 percent (2.5 percent higher than the state average)
Black-owned firms: 30.1 percent (18 points higher than state average)
Women-owned firms: 35.4 percent (8 points higher than state average)

December 24, 2013December 22, 2013

Downtown Manning, S.C.

Downtown Manning, S.C., is filled with Christmas cheer in this picture taken earlier this month.

Manning, which has a population of about 4,000 people, is the county seat for Clarendon County, a Southern Crescent county with 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate. About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black. Some other statistics:

High school graduation rate of those 25 or older: 76.3 percent.
Bachelor’s degree graduates: 13.8 percent
Median household income: $33,267
Poverty rate: 22.8 percent
Unemployment rate, November 2013: 9.9 percent (2.5 percent higher than the state average)
Black-owned firms: 30.1 percent (18 points higher than state average)
Women-owned firms: 35.4 percent (8 points higher than state average)

December 22, 2013December 22, 2013

Another view, Trio, S.C.

Here’s a close-up of the old Bank of Trio (pronounced Try-o) in the once thriving rural community of Trio in southern Williamsburg County. (Click to see another view.)

“The Bank of Trio is long gone, but the building still remains as a reminder of more prosperous days,” says retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree. In the building’s later years, it housed a general store (Rowell’s) and a post office.

Today, the building is abandoned and the 29595 zip code no longer is active. The community’s “post office” is a group of mailboxes by the side of the road. Trio was founded by the three Bryan brothers when the area’s main industries were lumber, turpentine and agriculture.