Tag: Civil War

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Historic marker for tourism, Burke County, Ga.

Historic marker, Ivanhoe farm, Burke County, Ga.
Historic marker, Ivanhoe farm, Burke County, Ga.

Rural areas in Georgia may start experiencing an uptick in tourism thanks to a state-sponsored program to highlight what was once topic-non-grata — Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s slashing March to the Sea.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is providing almost $700,000 to the nonprofit Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails Inc., to erect interpretive historic markers along routes used by Union and Confederate armies almost 150 years ago around Atlanta and along the Sea campaign.

In the photo above, re-enactors appeared at the unveiling of a new marker at Ivanhoe, the Dye family farm in Burke County.  According to Molly Dye Franklin, who provided the picture, the farm was home to a Nov. 26, 1864, skirmish between Union and Confederate troops — one of more than 100 skirmishes across the Peach State. She said the effort could help rural counties like Burke County, which needs tourism and help to rise above endemic poverty.

Burke County, which had about 23,125 people in 2012, is evenly split in the numbers of white and black residents (49 percent each).  Its population peak was in 1920 when it had almost 31,000 people; its low point was in 1970 when it had 18,255 people.

The county, located between Augusta and Statesboro, has a median household income of $32,188.  Some 28.6 percent of people live in poverty, according to a five-year Census estimate.

Photo taken in November 2014 by Molly Dye Franklin.  All rights reserved.

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Crescent profiled in Charleston newspaper

Excerpted from an Oct. 13, 2013, story in The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier by Robert Behre:

Charleston-based center tries to tackle problems of the Southern Crescent

It could be the legacy of slavery or the more recent struggles facing family farms or rural areas’ loss of political clout.

In all likelihood, it’s some combination of all three — and possibly other factors as well.

Andy Brack, a self-employed journalist and head of the nonprofit Center for a Better South, is trying to call attention to the unique challenges facing this area, which he refers to as the “Southern Crescent.”

Brack said he never thought much about what lies beyond South Carolina’s so-called “Corridor of Shame.” The corridor — a wide swath around Interstate 95 — took its name from a 2006 documentary about the state’s most impoverished and struggling public schools.

As he studied maps, however, Brack realized the Palmetto State is not unique and that the corridor extends hundreds of miles beyond its state lines.

And he began an effort to raise awareness about its existence, awareness that he hopes will lead to solutions.

“We have a moral imperative to do something to reduce high rates of poverty, unemployment, disease and other conditions in the crescent,” he said. “If we deal with these, that will bolster the South’s reputation, lead to more business and improve our entire region.”

Sagging Southern Numbers
The South has:

  • Roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population.
  • Eight of the nation’s 10 poorest states (Miss., La., Ky., Ga., Ala., Ark., S.C. and N.C.)
  • Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest graduation rates from public high school (Miss., S.C., La., Ga., Fla., Ala. and Ark. )
  • Seven of the nation’s 10 states with lowest median household income (Miss., Ark., Ala., Ky., Tenn., La. and S.C.)
  • Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest crime rates (Tenn., S.C., La., and Fla.)
  • Four of the nation’s 10 states with the highest unemployment in August 2013 (Ga., N.C., Miss. and Tenn.)
  • Two of the nation’s 10 states with lowest 2012 voter participation (Ark. and Tenn.)
  • Between five and eight of the nation’s 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes (8), high blood pressure (7), obesity (6) and infant mortality (5).

Source: 2013 Briefing Book on the South, October 2013. (which defines the South as these 11 states: Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga. Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn. and Va.)