South Carolina – Page 7 – Building a better South

November 18, 2014November 19, 2014

Green shutters, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Former editor Linda W. Brown found this old building with fastened green shutters near Workman Crossroads in western Williamsburg County, S.C.

UPDATE: We first ran this picture on Oct. 1, 2013, and offer it today to steer you to a brand new section of the BEST pictures of the Southern Crescent project. Click here and you can find more than 30 of the most compelling images that we’ve offered since we got started more than 18 months ago.

“I’m not sure if this was an old store that had a shed added to it or exactly what its function was,” Brown wrote. “I think it’s a pretty cool old building, whatever its purpose was earlier in its life.”

We wholeheartedly agree. Old buildings like this can be found across the rural South on farmland that has gone fallow and where tenant families moved on a generation or two ago. Or in small towns near railroad tracks that no longer carry trains.

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.

November 14, 2014November 15, 2014

Old store, Jamestown, S.C.

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.

November 6, 2014November 2, 2014

“Carolina snow,” Florence County, S.C.

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.

QuickFacts about Florence County .

November 4, 2014November 2, 2014

Bales of hay, Florence County, S.C.

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.

QuickFacts about Florence County .

November 2, 2014

Autumn, Florence County, S.C.

Barn in Florence County, S.C., overlooks soybean field.

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.

QuickFacts about Florence County .

October 29, 2014October 28, 2014

Forgotten house, Florence County, S.C.

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.

QuickFacts about Florence County and the City of Florence.

October 27, 2014October 28, 2014

Signs, Florence County, S.C.

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.

October 19, 2014October 19, 2014

Another closed grocery store, Fairfax, S.C.

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.

Map: “How to find a food desert near you,” NPR

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.

More about Allendale County from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

October 17, 2014October 15, 2014

Rural leaning tower, Colleton County, S.C.

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.

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

October 15, 2014

Fading painted icon, Colleton County, S.C.

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.

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