store – Page 2 – Building a better South

July 14, 2014July 10, 2014

Old joint, Clarendon County, S.C.

We’re not exactly sure what this old place is, but figure it probably most recently was a rural joint, preceded by being a country store of some sort. Likely as not, there have been some very good times had here. The run-down building, located along S.C. Highway 261 between Manning and Kingstree, S.C., is in agricultural Clarendon County.

Clarendon County has 34,357 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimate. About half of the county’s residence are white; the other half are black. Some other statistics:

High school graduation rate of those 25 or older: 76.3 percent.
Bachelor’s degree graduates: 13.8 percent
Median household income: $33,267
Poverty rate: 22.8 percent

More QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

June 25, 2014June 20, 2014

Another abandoned store, Pretoria, Ga.

14.0625.ga_pretoria — Pretoria Station, Dougherty County, Ga.

Here’s yet another abandoned rural store, this one called “Pretoria Station” in Dougherty County, which is home to the county seat of Albany.

Dougherty County is home to almost 93,000 people, according to 2013 U.S. Census estimates. Two-thirds of residents are black, with 30 percent being white. An estimated 30.6 people live in poverty, according to Census figures. The story is the same for Albany, where all but 17,000 of the county’s residents live. But the poverty rate is higher — 34.2 percent, about twice what is Georgia’s state average.

Census information on Albany and Dougherty County.

June 19, 2014

Deserted intersection, Calhoun County, S.C.

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.

June 11, 2014November 16, 2014

Store, Jordan, Ga.

This store, which VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes is about all that’s left in the settlement of Jordan in rural Wheeler County, Ga., looks remarkably similar to a building pictured here in Orangeburg County, S.C., more than 200 miles away.

According to 2011 poverty estimates by the U.S. Census, Wheeler County, which had 7,421 people in 2010, had a 42.2 percent poverty rate. What’s remarkable about that is it is one of the few high-poverty counties where the overall rate is higher than the rate for children under 18.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

More on Wheeler County.

May 6, 2014May 5, 2014

70s sign, near Bowman, S.C.

14.0506.7upstore — Pen Davis Grocery, near Bowman, S.C.

This floral, colorful 1970s 7-Up sign outside the old Pen Davis Grocery south of Bowman, S.C., on U.S. Highway 178 evokes an uplifting sense of days gone by, despite the slow decay of the store.

The abandoned rural store, which sports at least two “no trespassing” signs, is in Orangeburg County, home too more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent. The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people. Bowman, by contrast, has just under 1,000 people.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

April 30, 2014November 16, 2014

Time 4 Change, Orangeburg, S.C.

14.0430.change — Time 4 Change, Orangeburg, S.C.

The political graffiti from a recent presidential campaign still marks this abandoned store in Orangeburg, S.C., at the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and Tyler Road. Across the street is a stark trailer park with two dozen identical, gray mobile homes and few trees.

Orangeburg County is home to more than 91,000 people, two thirds of whom are black. The county, which has a poverty rate of 24.5 percent, is strongly Democratic. Wags, however, might note that the graffiti today represents a dream for change that may be stale. Proponents might say it is still very much alive, particularly in Orangeburg County.

The City of Orangeburg, known for its gardens and historically black colleges, officially is home to 13,850 people and has a 31.3 poverty rate in 2012, but the greater area has more than 65,000 people.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census.
More about Orangeburg via Wikipedia.

April 28, 2014April 24, 2014

All that’s left, Jordan, Ga.

VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown writes that this tiny store is about all that’s left in the settlement of Jordan in rural Wheeler County, Ga.

About two thirds of the residents of the south-central Georgia county are white with the remaining almost all black.

More on Wheeler County.

April 8, 2014

Rocking Horse, Workman Crossroads, S.C.

Rocking horse and old store, Workman Crossroads, S.C.

Kingstree, S.C., photographer Linda W. Brown found an old country store, a vintage rocking horse and a restored farmhouse standing within yards of each other at Workman Crossroads in western Williamsburg County.

Williamsburg County, which is about 75 miles north of Charleston, S.C., has a population of just under 34,000 people. 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.

Williamsburg County on Wikipedia.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.

March 15, 2014March 17, 2014

Melton store, Allentown, Ga.

H.C. Melton General Merchandise, Allentown, Ga.

Here’s a recent picture of the H.C. Melton store in the Wilkinson County town of Allentown, Ga., which we featured here back in August.

This photo, taken by longtime Georgia journalist Elliott Brack, holds a special place in his heart, he explains in GwinnettForum.com:

“Several of my relatives lived and still live in this town and I was born near there. One cousin is on the City Council. My uncle once clerked for H.C. Melton. I remember spending many a day with my cousins in the area, often visiting the store, and pulling soft drinks for five cents out of the circulating cold water of the coolers, then emptying a package of peanuts into the drink bottle. We sat on the bench on the porch at the front of the store and enjoyed our purchase. Yes, this photo holds special memories.”

Today, Wilkinson County has fewer people (9,577 in the 2012 Census estimate) than it did in the 1940s (11,025 people) when my dad was a boy here before moving to the “big city” of Macon with his family. About three in five people are white, with most of the rest being black. Poverty is about 20 percent.

More from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.
More from Wikipedia.

March 5, 2014

Peeling paint, Coosawatchie, S.C.

Dilapidated storefront, Coosawatchie, S.C.

Paint peeling from this shuttered storefront along S.C. Highway 462 in Coosawatchie, S.C., reflects deep poverty that is found in rural areas along Interstate 95 in the Palmetto State. This photograph was taken just a few hundred yards away from the beautiful, meandering Coosawatchie River.

Jasper County, population 25,833, is just over the river from Savannah, Ga. Its location near the metro area likely is why poverty in Jasper County (21.4 percent) is half that of Allendale County to the north. However, parts of the county around Ridgeland and Coosawatchie, which are further away from the Savannah area, feature a lot of the same strife as in Allendale County.

QuickFacts about Jasper County from the U.S. Census.