The Center for a Better South
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.
Prospect Grocery on S.C. Highway 341 near Johnsonville, S.C., rests in Sunday-afternoon quiet, but is busy during the week.
The Prospect community is famous for “The Neck” Christmas Parade and is infamous as the spot where Pee Wee Gaskins buried a number of his murder victims, according to photographer and retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C.
Johnsonville, population about 1,400, is in the southeastern tip of Florence County, which 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 August 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C., observes that gourds are used as nesting boxes from purple martins and are a common sight in the rural South. This photo was taken near a packhouse in rural Florence County not far from Johnsonville.
Florence Countyhad 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 August 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
Although tobacco no longer dominates the agricultural landscape in the South Carolina’s Pee Dee region, there are still a number of acres of the golden leaf planted, photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree writes.
This field, ready for harvest, is located in the Vox community of rural Florence County.
Florence Countyhad 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 August 2014 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
This old GMC truck, despite its coat of rust, still has plenty of character as it sits beside U.S. Highway 52 in Florence County, notes Kingstree, S.C., photographer Linda W. Brown.
Florence Countyhad 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 by Linda W. Brown. All rights reserved.
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.
Copyrighted photo was taken January 2014 by Steve Coe. All rights reserved.
This abandoned baseball field where wood is warping and steel stands are rusting seems reflective of how tired Timmonsville, S.C. seems. Per capita income for the town was $11,714 in 2000. In 2010, the town had 2,315 people. Ten years later, it had grown by five people.
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.
Copyrighted photo was taken Nov. 19, 2013, by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.
For every business that is open on West Main Street in the Pee Dee town of Timmonsville, S.C., some six businesses are shuttered, including those pictured above. Open on the lonely street are a church, town hall, furniture shop, small chain general store and a bank. But there were 18 closed businesses along three blocks of the city’s hub street last month.
Fortunately for the community, Honda Motor Company located a facility several years back that builds all-terrain vehicles and personal watercrafts nearby, which helped employment levels. Still, per capita income for the town was $11,714 in 2000. In 2010, the town had 2,315 people. Ten years later, it had grown by five people.
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.
Copyrighted photo was taken Nov. 19, 2013, by Andy Brack. All rights reserved.