Tag: Calhoun County

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Summer is on the way

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After seeing these petunias growing outside a house in St. Matthews, S.C., on a plant stand made of a three-wheeler, it’s pretty clear that spring is in full swing and summer is just around the corner.

16.0514.stmatthews_houseAbout a quarter of the population of the town is at or below the federal poverty line, according to this article.  More than 60 percent of residents of the town, which is Calhoun County’s seat of government, are black.

The county is home to just over 15,000 people, which makes it the third least populous county in the state.  It’s also the smallest geographically in the state.  Named for former Vice President and U.S. Sen. John C. Calhoun, about 16 percent of families live below the poverty line.  More.

Photo by Andy Brack.

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Old house, near Cameron, S.C.

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This old, dilapidated farmhouse sits in a fallow field on U.S. Highway 176 near Cameron, S.C.  The agricultural community of just over 400 people has a poverty rate of 12 percent, about two-thirds of the state average.

Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.

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Deserted intersection, Calhoun County, S.C.

Calhoun County, S.C., intersection
Calhoun County, S.C., intersection

A deserted store is at one corner of an empty intersection in Calhoun County, S.C.  Back in the day before Interstate 26, which is a few miles to the south, this place would have been a busy gathering place for local residents and travelers going between Charleston and the state capital city, Columbia.

Much of Calhoun County is very rural, but because part of it abuts the Columbia metro area, its poverty rate is a little lower than most Crescent areas.  Poverty is 18.2 percent, according to a five-year Census average, less than a point higher than the state average.  The county is, however, relatively small at just over 15,000 people.  About 43 percent of residents are black with whites comprising 55 percent.

Photo taken June 18, 2014, by Andy Brack.  Copyrighted.  All rights reserved.

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What’s this guy doing, Leary, Ga.

Videographer in Leary, Ga.
Videographer in Leary, Ga.

There’s not a lot that seems to go on in rural Leary, Ga., a southwestern agricultural village in Calhoun County.  So when a videographer shows up and starts filming local statues and buildings, people get to talking.  Unfortunately, the camera crew wouldn’t tell anybody why they were filming abandoned buildings, this statue, the old railroad stations and more.  Today’s photo is the fifth and last in a series that profiles what Leary looks like.

Leary, which had 610 people in the 2010 Census (56 fewer than 10 years earlier) is predominantly poor and black.  Three in four residents are black.  Some 36 percent of the people in Calhoun County live at or below the poverty line, according to the 2010 Census.

There’s not a lot of businesses in Leary.  Its train depot is closed.  Across the street from a busy convenience store is a full city block of deserted businesses and homes.  More than anything, Leary seems old and tired with little hope of a prosperous future.  Notes photographer Michael Kaynard, “The downtown area had been deserted and the jail, post office and other businesses moved away and followed the highway.”  Other than the store, the only thing that appeared to have some activity was a peanut plant, which operates seasonally.

Photo by Andy Brack of the Center for a Better South, May 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Old station, Leary, Ga.

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Old railroad station, Leary, Ga.

The old railroad station in Leary, Ga., looks solid, but it’s slowly decaying, much like the rest of the small Calhoun County town is.  You can’t see it in this photo, but vines cover the back wall of the station.

Leary, which had 610 people in the 2010 Census (56 fewer than 10 years earlier) is predominantly poor and black.  Three in four residents are black.  Some 36 percent of the people in Calhoun County live at or below the poverty line, according to the 2010 Census.

There’s not a lot of businesses in Leary.  Its train depot is closed.  Across the street from a busy convenience store is a full city block of deserted businesses and homes.  More than anything, Leary seems old and tired with little hope of a prosperous future.  Notes photographer Michael Kaynard, “The downtown area had been deserted and the jail, post office and other businesses moved away and followed the highway.”  Other than the store, the only thing that appeared to have some activity was a peanut plant, which operates seasonally.

Photo by Andy Brack of the Center for a Better South, May 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Old buildings, Leary, Ga.

Old buildings flanked by peanut plant in background, Leary, Ga.
Old buildings flanked by peanut plant in background, Leary, Ga.

With a decaying old — but recently painted — building in the foreground, you can see an abandoned brick warehouse and a peanut business in the background of this photo of the small Calhoun County town of Leary.

Leary, which had 610 people in the 2010 Census (56 fewer than 10 years earlier) is predominantly poor and black.  Three in four residents are black.  Some 36 percent of the people in Calhoun County live at or below the poverty line, according to the 2010 Census.

There’s not a lot of businesses in Leary.  Its train depot is closed.  Across the street from a busy convenience store is a full city block of deserted businesses and homes.  More than anything, Leary seems old and tired with little hope of a prosperous future.  Notes photographer Michael Kaynard, “The downtown area had been deserted and the jail, post office and other businesses moved away and followed the highway.”  Other than the store, the only thing that appeared to have some activity was the peanut plant, which operates seasonally.

Photo by Andy Brack of the Center for a Better South, May 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Old buildings look a little better now, Leary, Ga.

Two abandoned houses next to a modern water tower, Leary, Ga.
Two abandoned houses next to a modern water tower, Leary, Ga.

Today’s photo, the second of  a five-part series of the small Calhoun County town of Leary, highlights two abandoned buildings near a modern-day water tower.  We’re told that the town painted the buildings a little while back so that they’d look better than they did when they unpainted and decaying.  At least now, the thinking goes, they look a little better.

Leary, which had 610 people in the 2010 Census (56 fewer than 10 years earlier) is predominantly poor and black.  Three in four residents are black.  Some 36 percent of the people in Calhoun County live at or below the poverty line, according to the 2010 Census.

There’s not a lot of businesses in Leary.  Its train depot is closed.  Across the street from a busy convenience store is a full city block of deserted businesses and homes.  More than anything, Leary seems old and tired with little hope of a prosperous future.  Notes photographer Michael Kaynard, “The downtown area had been deserted and the jail, post office and other businesses moved away and followed the highway.”  Other than the store, the only thing that appeared to have some activity was a peanut plant, which operates seasonally.

Photo by Andy Brack of the Center for a Better South, May 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Empty, Leary, Ga.

Abandoned store, Leary, Ga.
Abandoned store, Leary, Ga.

Today’s photo marks the first of a five-part series focusing our lenses on Leary, Ga., a small agricultural village in southwest Georgia in Calhoun County near the Early County line.  Pictured above is an abandoned store near the railroad tracks at the heart of the downtown.

Leary, which had 610 people in the 2010 Census (56 fewer than 10 years earlier) is predominantly poor and black.  Three in four residents are black.  Some 36 percent of the people in Calhoun County live at or below the poverty line, according to the 2010 Census.

There’s not a lot of businesses in Leary.  Its train depot is closed.  Across the street from a busy convenience store is a full city block of deserted businesses and homes.  More than anything, Leary seems old and tired with little hope of a prosperous future.  Notes photographer Michael Kaynard, “The downtown area had been deserted and the jail, post office and other businesses moved away and followed the highway.”  Other than the store, the only thing that appeared to have some activity was a peanut plant, which operates seasonally.

Photo by Andy Brack of the Center for a Better South, May 2013.  All rights reserved.