The Center for a Better South
A Collum’s Lumber Products worker smiles from a bird’s eye perch above the lumber and po9le manufacturing plant in Allendale, S.C., one of the six counties in the S.C. Promise Zone. Collum’s is an independent, family-owned wholesale timber business that buys timber to make top quality, sustainable wholesale lumber. More.
Note the blue tarp on the roof of this dilapidated house on Sumter Street in Fairfax, S.C. The area has a lot of housing that needs improvement, according to those who live in the area and nonprofit officials.
Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia. Per capita income was $8,940. About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.
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.
Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
This abandoned motel on U.S. Highway 301 in rural Allendale, S.C., is almost across the road from another empty hotel we profiled in 2013.
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.
As we took a photo of a closed barber shop along U.S. Highway 321 in Fairfax, S.C., you could see a drug deal going on in broad daylight across the street at an intersection.
Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia. Per capita income was $8,940. About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.
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.
Copyrighted photo by Andy Brack, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
This old, rusting vernacular house east of Sycamore, S.C., is in the middle of the six-county impoverished area that the Center for a Better South has worked with area and state leaders to apply for a federal Promise Zone designation. Read about our work here.
While the farmhouse seems to be unoccupied, but may be used as a hunting cabin, it’s easy to see good workmanship in the framing. Structures like this dot the countryside throughout the Southern Crescent, a reminder of tenant farming of days gone by.
Sycamore, a village to the west 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.
Photo by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
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.
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.
Photo by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
Sycamore, a South Carolina village in Allendale County of about 180 people,has a tiny, one-room post office on Main Street just off the main highway. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. According to a 2011 story, this post office and 27 others across South Carolina were scheduled for closure.
Sycamore 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.
Photo by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
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.
Photo by Andy Brack, Center for a Better South, Oct. 1, 2014. All rights reserved.
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.
Photo by Michael Kaynard, Sept. 22, 2013. All rights reserved.
It was quiet on a recent Sunday morning outside this pool hall in Fairfax, S.C. Down the street, people filed into churches for morning services.
Fairfax, in rural Allendale County, lost about a third of its population by 2010, which it had 2,025 people compared to 3,206 people in 2000, according to Census figures in Wikipedia. Per capita income was $8,940. About 38 percent of the people in the town, which had about two times as many adult males as females, lived in poverty.
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.
Photo by Andy Brack, Sept. 22, 2013. All rights reserved.