October 2014 – Page 2 – Building a better South

October 11, 2014

Spider lilies, Sycamore, S.C.

Spider lilies bloom across from Kerr-McGee Farm Center on Main Street in Sycamore, S.C.

These vibrant spider lilies were in bloom near a sidewalk on the grounds of town hall in tiny Sycamore, S.C., in Allendale County when we passed by in early October. A week later, the grass had been cut and the lilies were gone.

Sycamore, a village of about 180 people, is about 60 percent white with a 35 percent black community of residents. Unlike the whole of Allendale County with its almost 40 percent poverty rate, poverty is comparatively low at 10 percent in Sycamore.

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

October 9, 2014October 9, 2014

Donate today to our fall campaign

We encourage you to donate today to our fall 2014 campaign to keep the Center vibrant and allow it to continue to do its good work.

Click here to make an online donation.

Recent success

The Center is drawing attention to the Southern Crescent, an impoverished crescent-shaped area stretching from Tidewater Virginia through the Mississippi Delta. Learn more by clicking on the tab in the navigation bar above.

This year, the Center has formed a broad, nonpartisan Work Group in South Carolina to discuss ways to reduce poverty and improve opportunities in the Crescent parts of the state, which is also known as the “Corridor of Shame.” More.

Most recently, the Center has worked with the University of South Carolina at Salkahatchie and the Southern Carolina Alliance on a six-county project that could bring millions of dollars of aid to poor counties in the southern part of the state that would grow jobs, improve economic development, reduce crime and make education better.

Your donations make a big difference to the center because it gives us the fuel to keep projects like the Work Group active. Thank you for your support.

October 9, 2014November 16, 2014

Vernacular house, Cummings, S.C.

We’re not really sure about the story behind this great, old vernacular house along the railroad tracks in tiny Cummings, S.C., a few miles southeast of Hampton. And while the house is boarded up and front door is open, it seems to still be getting some use as a storage area. No doubt, there a lots of stories that could be told about its better days.

Hampton County, located in the southern part of South Carolina, was home to 21,090 people in 2010, about 4,000 fewer than a century earlier. More. Some 22.6 percent of Hampton County residents live below the poverty line.

Hampton’s annual Watermelon Festival is the state’s longest, continually-running festival. The town of Hampton includes a brownfield of a former medical waste incinerator. More.

QuickFacts from the U.S. Census

October 7, 2014November 16, 2014

Old barn, Jacksonboro, S.C.

Old barn in morning light, near Jacksonboro, S.C.

Note how the early morning sunlight made this old barn pop out of the shadows along S.C. Highway 264 near Jacksonboro, S.C., in rural Colleton County.

Along the edge of the Southern Crescent, the barn reflects a time gone by in a county that is poised for growth because of its proximity to Interstate 95 and the Charleston metropolitan area.

Walterboro is the seat of government in Colleton County. It 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 5, 2014

Old Sheldon Church

While the Old Sheldon Church isn’t technically in the Southern Crescent — missing it by being a few miles east of Yemassee, S.C., and the Hampton and Colleton county lines — it’s a fitting photo for a fall Sunday. With Spanish moss dripping from old oaks, the church dates to the mid 1700s and served as a symbol of the prosperity of South Carolina in pre-Revolutionary War days. Rebuilt later, it burned around the time of the Civil War.

These days, plantations line lazy rivers, but most people in this rural area are far from wealthy. Hampton County, for example, is home to about 21,000 people, some 22.6 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Colleton County, also nearby, has just over 38,000 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Learn more about the history of Old Sheldon Church from this entry (scroll down) excerpted from the S.C. Encyclopedia.

October 3, 2014October 2, 2014

Cotton, Colleton County, S.C.

A bale of cotton (500 pounds) can make about 1,200 T-shirts, according to cotton.org.

Old King Cotton is bustin’ out all over the South, including in this field near rural Ruffin, S.C., in Colleton County.

According to Cotton USA, about a third of the nation’s cotton is grown in fields from Alabama through Virginia. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, South Carolina ranked 10th nationally in production of cotton by growing 587,589 bales of the crop. As a comparison, Georgia, ranked second to Texas, grew 2.7 million in 2012.

October 1, 2014November 16, 2014

Run-down motel, Allendale, S.C.

Perhaps this image is the perfect characterization of poverty throughout the Southern Crescent. Not only is the word “crescent” misspelled in the sign outside this seemingly-abandoned motel in Allendale, S.C. But upon close scrutiny, it’s clear people are actually living in the rooms of this dilapidated place.

NOTE: This photo originally ran in September 2013, but we’re republishing today to remind people about the depth of poverty throughout the Southern Crescent.

Rural Allendale County in South Carolina’s southwest corner as one of the Crescent’s highest poverty rates — more than 40 percent of people live below the federal 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.