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.
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.
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.”
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.
ArtFields, a new annual arts festival in rural Lake City, S.C.
You don’t expect to find a world-class art gallery in Lake City, a rural South Carolina community in the Southern Crescent between Kingstree and Florence.
The Center for a Better South’s Andy Brack wrote about Lake City last week in the online magazine Charleston Currents:
“But that’s just what you can experience thanks to millions of dollars being pumped into the community by native daughter and financier Darla Moore. There’s a lot of redevelopment — even a boutique hotel being built downtown — and an annual art festival, ArtFields, that has $100,000 in cash prizes to draw attention to the area and promote opportunities.
We stumbled upon the Jones-Carter Gallery last week in a visit to the Pee Dee and were blown away. Right now, the gallery is showcasing the work of modern painter William H. Johnson (1901-1970), an African-American master born in Florence. He moved to New York City when he was 17 and saved money to pay for classes at the National Academy of Design. He enjoyed some success with his modern paintings with folk influences, but by middle age, he wasn’t able to sustain himself through art. He reportedly stopped painting in 1956 and lived in a state hospital for the last 23 years of his life.
Johnson’s art — more than 1,000 pieces — almost was thrown away, but was rescued by friends and later given to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service honored Johnson’s talent by issuing a postage stamp in recognition of being one of the country’s most important African-American artists.
The exhibit in Lake City is worth the trip. Developed by Morgan State University and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, it offers oils, woodcuts, watercolors and more that dazzle.
But what’s more interesting is the fact that this gallery is in Lake City, home to about 6,500 people, about a third of whom live below the federal poverty line. Like Charleston Place was a linchpin of an economic resurgence in Charleston, the gallery, which was a hardware and grocery store in a previous life, and the hotel under construction may become a similar lure. According to a brochure, the gallery “is convenient to contemporary shops, clothiers, antique stores and several restaurants.”
A dozen years ago, few would have conceived as Lake City as a “destination,” but it’s worth seeing what’s happening in this small Pee Dee town.
Lake City is in the Pee Dee’s Florence County near Interstate 95 in northeast South Carolina. One in five people in Lake City, population 6,715, is white, while some 77.5 percent of residents are black. The city’s poverty rate is more than 32 percent, according to the U.S. Census. The high poverty rate is a testament to Lake City’s rural nature since its home county, supported by the regional city of Florence, has a 19.4 percent poverty rate.
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.”
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.
This battered business is what train passengers wee when looking east while at the station in Yemassee, S.C., crossroads of four counties. Next door to this business is a white store with “Praise the Lord” and “Jesus is Lord” painted on large windows. The sign on top of the building says “Church of the Lord Jesus Christ Deliverance.” Down the street is a similar store converted into “The Holy Temple Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. of the Apostolic Faith.”
While Yemassee touches on Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper counties, the station and buildings in the photo appear to be in Hampton County, 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 Yemassee, S.C., which is at the intersection of four different Crescent counties, is all about shrimp. It has a shrimp festival every year. And as you can see from this picture, it’s even sold in bait shops (although, we’ve got to admit, that from some angles, the sign appears to be pointing to the pool hall.)
Just around the corner from this commercial complex is the other big thing in Yemassee — the Amtrak station. While Yemassee touches on Beaufort, Colleton and Jasper counties, the station and buildings in the photo are in Hampton County, 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.
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.)
This old house in the Mouzon community of Williamsburg County, S.C., is a study of contrasts. On one hand, it’s falling down. But look more closely — somebody appears to have put in new footings to prop it up.
Retired editor Linda W. Brown of nearby Kingstree, S.C., notes that unless something is done soon, it will fall down. “There are more than a few of these in Williamsburg County,” she observed. “I’m wondering if it was moved to this property as there are no steps in sight.”
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.
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.
Robertville, a small unincorporated community at the southern tip of South Carolina, has a beautiful Baptist church that’s on the National Historic Register. But it’s also the birthplace of someone who is familiar to anyone who has been involved with a community or government meeting — Henry Martyn Robert, author of “Robert’s Rules of Order.”
Robert (1837-1923) was born on a South Carolina plantation which his father, a Baptist preacher, sold and freed 26 slaves in 1850 after concluding it wasn’t good for his children to be reared in a “slave-served society,” Robert’s grandson, Henry M. Robert III of Annapolis, Maryland, told Better South’s Andy Brack.
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.
We stumbled upon the 
