Sign – Building a better South

December 10, 2014

Fading sign, Soperton, Ga.

Old horse and mule business, Soperton, Ga.

This fading old Coca Cola sign is on the side of a brick building in Soperton, Ga., a town of just over 3,000 people in Truetlen County in the middle of Georgia. VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown says it’s part of an ad for horses and mules.

According to a post on Brown’s site, the top of the sign was covered by a Firestone sign until just a few years ago. The building most recently housed a retail business that had the franchises for Firestone tires, Snapper, Zenith, GE and more. The original building reportedly was a horse and mule operation owned by a local political and business leader.

The county is home to about 6,700 people, two-thirds of whom are white. Some 26 percent of the population live at or below the federal poverty line. In the town of Soperton, more than 31 percent of people live below the poverty line.

October 25, 2014October 22, 2014

Sign of the times, near Soperton, Ga.

You can tell how popular pork products are through this old sign on a barn near Soperton, Ga. We remember the smoky tastiness of barbecue and Brunswick stew from rural Treutlen County from childhood. The photo is by VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown.

The county, almost in the middle of Georgia, is home to about 6,700 people, two-thirds of whom are white. Some 26 percent of the population live at or below the federal poverty line.

Learn more about Treutlen County.

November 6, 2013November 17, 2013

Sign, Cedar Swamp, S.C.

It’s hard to go far in rural Williamsburg County, S.C., without encountering a “Jesus Loves You” or “Trust Jesus” sign such as this one taken in September 2010 in the Cedar Swamp community.

Retired editor Linda W. Brown tells us the story behind these signs: “They were the work of the late Jimmie Stephenson, who was a sign painter by profession, but had a Bible Study and maybe a small regular congregation, as well.”

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.

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.

August 2, 2013July 31, 2013

Close-up of old store, Ebony, Va.

Neat sign on old store, Ebony, Va. Photo by Andy Brack.

Above is a close-up of the neat sign on an old store from Ebony, Va., pictured here on July 31. [See that post.]

Ebony is in rural Brunswick County, which is a farming area on the North Carolina border with more than 17,000 residents. Like most Southern Crescent counties, poverty exceeds 20 percent.

More on Brunswick County from Wikipedia.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.