Williamsburg County – Page 5 – Building a better South

December 30, 2013November 16, 2014

Farmhouse, Lane, S.C.

Lane, S.C., was once a busy railroad hub that boasted two hotels, several successful businesses and a number of large houses, writes retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown.

“While some of the houses are still well-maintained, this one is fading fast,” she says.

These days, Lane, which is in Williamsburg County, has about 600 people.

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.

December 28, 2013

Roadside store, Trio, S.C.

This old store in Trio, S.C., is across the street from the former Bank of Trio. Retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown of nearby Kingstree says it’s “just another example of how once thriving country stores have fallen victim to our greater mobility.”

Trio (pronounced Try-o) was once a thriving community in southern Williamsburg County founded by the three Bryan brothers, writes Brown. The area’s main industries were lumber, turpentine and agriculture.

“The Bank of Trio is long gone, but the building still remains as a reminder of more prosperous days,” she says.

December 22, 2013December 22, 2013

Another view, Trio, S.C.

Here’s a close-up of the old Bank of Trio (pronounced Try-o) in the once thriving rural community of Trio in southern Williamsburg County. (Click to see another view.)

“The Bank of Trio is long gone, but the building still remains as a reminder of more prosperous days,” says retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree. In the building’s later years, it housed a general store (Rowell’s) and a post office.

Today, the building is abandoned and the 29595 zip code no longer is active. The community’s “post office” is a group of mailboxes by the side of the road. Trio was founded by the three Bryan brothers when the area’s main industries were lumber, turpentine and agriculture.

December 20, 2013December 20, 2013

Old bank, Trio, S.C.

Trio (pronounced Try-o) was once a thriving community in southern Williamsburg County founded by the three Bryan brothers, writes retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree. The area’s main industries were lumber, turpentine and agriculture.

“The Bank of Trio is long gone, but the building still remains as a reminder of more prosperous days,” she says. In the building’s later years, it housed a general store (Rowell’s) and a post office. These days the “post office” is a group of mailboxes by the side of the road.

December 16, 2013December 16, 2013

Old grocery store, Poplar Hill, S.C.

Old grocery store, Williamsburg County, S.C.

This old 76 gas station was known as Britton’s Grocery many years ago, writes retired editor Linda W. Brown of Kingstree. It’s located in the Poplar Hill area of Williamsburg County.

December 10, 2013December 10, 2013

Tumbling down, Indiantown, S.C.

Vines reclaim old store, Indiantown, S.C.

It must be the week of vines. Earlier this week, we posted a South Carolina photo by Linda W. Brown of a bushy tobacco barn in Clarendon County. Now she turns her lens on her home county, Williamsburg County, where she found vines eating up an old rural grocery store.

“I believe this old grocery store was known as Owens’ Grocery,” Linda wrote in October. “It’s on S.C. Highway 261 between Kingstree and Hemingway in the Indiantown community. It’s been closed for many years, although the woman who ran the store died just last week.

“Now, it seems to be a dumping ground for people’s trash. This was also taken on January 26 of this this year. Winter is the only time you can actually see any of the building. During the summer the vines completely cover it.”

November 12, 2013November 17, 2013

Bottle tree, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Bottle trees are artificial trees found throughout the South. While generally filled with colored bottles, this version outside a rural Williamsburg County home features a nice vase as well as colored plastic bottles — something we’ve never seen on bottle trees.

According to Mississippi artist Stephanie Dwyer, bottle trees have been displayed in the South since the 1700s and are a remnant of African tradition. “Placing colorful bottles on the ends of broken limbs is said to keep evil spirits (or maybe just nosy neighbors) away from the home. As the story goes, the sun’s glimmer through the glass mesmerizes the spirits and traps them in the bottles,” Dwyer’s Web site says.

November 8, 2013November 16, 2014

Autumn barn, Williamsburg County, S.C.

13.1108.barn — Autumn barn, Williamsburg County, S.C. Photo by Linda W. Brown.

Not only does the autumn sunlight dance warm shades and shadows on this old barn off McIntosh Road in Williamsburg County, S.C., but it highlights how the barn is in the autumn of its days, according to retired editor Linda W. Brown.

Such pastoral scenes dot the landscape of the Southern Crescent to reflect two realities — the relaxed beauty of the area and the slow decay of infrastructure that once powered the rural South.

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.”

October 27, 2013November 17, 2013

Tenant house, near Workman, S.C.

Tenant house in cotton field, Williamsburg County, S.C.

Roll-roofing-sided tenant houses, like this one, used to be a common sight in Williamsburg County. But they’re rare these days, says retired editor and photographer Linda W. Brown of Kingstree, S.C.

“I liked the cotton field in the foreground with the tenant house behind it as a reminder that we aren’t all that far removed from the days of the sharecropper. You can’t really see it, but way in the background is an old tobacco barn.”