The Center for a Better South
Kingstree, S.C., photographer Linda W. Brown admits that this old store in Jamestown in Berkeley County isn’t technically in the Southern Crescent. But the surrounding rural community, buffered by tens of thousands of acres of national forest, certainly does fit the image of the Crescent region with its vintage gas pumps that harken back to a time of country groceries as focal points of communities.
Copyrighted 2014 photo by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Dried sunflower stalks like the field in front an old barn in rural Florence County, S.C., in this photo taken by Kingstree photographer Linda W. Brown.
Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.
Copyrighted photo taken in October 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Fields across South Carolina are white with “Carolina snow” as the season’s cotton harvest is underway. This field, captured by photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C., near Sardis in rural Florence County, S.C.
Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.
Copyrighted photo taken in October 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Recently-baled hay is ready for the winter in this field west of the small town of Scranton in rural Florence County, S.C.
Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.
Copyrighted photo taken in October 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
This rusting, old barn overlooking a soybean field looks like autumn to photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C. The barn is in rural Florence County.
Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.
Copyrighted photo taken in October 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Autumned-browned weeds almost obscure this old house on Kirby Road in rural Florence County, S.C., writes photographer Linda W. Brown of nearby Kingstree.
Florence County had 137,948 people, according to a 2012 Census estimate. Its poverty rate — higher in the rural areas than the county seat of Florence, averaged 19.4 percent in 2010.
Copyrighted photo taken in October 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C. sent along this picture recently from nearby rural Florence County that shows an old store full of signs from all times — plus a couple of vintage gas pumps.
Photo is copyrighted 2014, Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
The only grocery store in Fairfax, S.C., an IGA known as “Gatlin’s,” reportedly closed about a year ago. That followed an earlier closure of a Galaxy food mart profiled here in June 2013.
Today, the only grocery store that serves rural Allendale County is another IGA in Allendale, which means people from Fairfax have to drive to Allendale or Hampton just to buy groceries. [We’re told by Allendale-area residents that the Fairfax store may open again soon.]
“Food deserts” are often found in poor urban and rural communities because it’s hard to find grocery stores with lots of healthy options. People who live in food deserts may only have one store that stock more packaged and canned food than they do fresh foods. In turn, having fewer options tends to support unhealthy eating habits that lead to higher incidents of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity and more.
With just over 40 percent of Allendale County’s 10,000 people living at or below the poverty level, the median household income is about $23,000 a year — half of South Carolina’s average and well below the nation’s $50,000 average.
Photo by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
This slightly off-kilter grain tower in the western part of Colleton County along S.C. Highway 641 reminded the photographer’s daughter of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Along the edge of the Southern Crescent, Colleton County is split by Interstate 95, which makes it poised for growth. Still, lots of the large county is rural. Walterboro is the seat of government in Colleton County, which is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.
Photo taken Oct. 1, 2014, by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.
Across much of the South, overt symbols of the past, such as the Confederate battle flag, are slowly fading into the past, much like the paint on this barn at Confederate Farm in the western part of Colleton County, S.C., on S.C. Highway 641.
Along the edge of the Southern Crescent, Colleton County is split by Interstate 95, which makes it poised for growth. Still, lots of the large county is rural. Walterboro is the seat of government in Colleton County, which is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.
Photo taken Oct. 1, 2014, by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.