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Forgotten or absorbed towns across South Carolina

Ruffin.
Lodge.
Smoaks.
Ha. you're in my area now. I remember when I was a kid all the communities had softball teams and they used to play against each other at the softball field in Lodge. Ruffin, Smoaks, and Lodge all had teams but even the smaller communities like Little Swamp and Rum Gully had teams. Times really have changed.
 
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My mother grew up in Scotia, S.C. It lies along U.S. 321 in Hampton County, three miles south of Estill. My grandmother had the post office and a general store there. The Seaboard trains, not the Silver Meteor, stopped there to take on passengers and mail. It was before my time, but there were several stores and even a hotel there. Now there are a couple of gas stops on the highway and the train depot is gone.
Are you familiar with the town of Miley? It's not far from there and is almost non-existent now with the exception of the remnants of Lightsey Bros railroad that was there.
 
Ha. you're in my area now. I remember when I was a kid all the communities had softball teams and they used to play against each other at the softball field in Lodge. Ruffin, Smoaks, and Lodge all had teams but even the smaller communities like Little Swamp and Rum Gully had teams. Times really have changed.
Smalls's great grandfather was from Lodge. Lived at the house right there at the end of Woodrow Drive, just off Bells Highway.
 
Driving back from Hilton Head Saturday several of those towns are now ghost towns. Saw an elementary school (Robertville) long since shut down. And that got me thinking.
The list of schools, towns, that are no more is a large one. But the stories, maybe from a lot of you, are still there.
But to keep it sports related, what are some schools that were once great. Only to be merged or done away with altogether? In my area, before my time there were Leavelle McCampbell and Langley/Bath/Clearwater (LBC) high schools. Both had some success in football. I always thought the merging of those two (Midland Valley) would produce more of the same. Pretty much not the case in 40 years.
My hometown and many others were devastated when the textile industry went away, most never recovered. They are still there, but a shell of what they used to be. Sad.
 
I drive US 321 from where I live just over the Georgia line to Columbia for ballgames. Folks here mentioned quite a few of the towns I go through all the time - Scotia, Olar, Ulmer. The biggest town on that trip is Denmark, which is actually a pretty setting. Anyone from there know anything about the guy who's always out on 321 with maps and such, rain or shine, talking to himself? I worry about him if I don't see him, but 80% of the time I do. He must be a Denmark landmark.

321 is a fascinating drive. The camel in the pasture outside of Swansea is pretty cool.

One last question. I pass through the town of Norway on that drive. Compared to the other towns, Norway has a traffic light, etc., yet their high school is Hunter-Kinard-Tyler. Seems strange that Norway folks have to go west to really nothing for high school. I don't ever recall a Norway High. Anyone know anything about that?

PS: I miss Langley-Bath-Clearwater. Never went to a game there, but thought the name was cool.
 
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Ha. you're in my area now. I remember when I was a kid all the communities had softball teams and they used to play against each other at the softball field in Lodge. Ruffin, Smoaks, and Lodge all had teams but even the smaller communities like Little Swamp and Rum Gully had teams. Times really have changed.
My neck of the woods
 
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I drive US 321 from where I live just over the Georgia line to Columbia for ballgames. Folks here mentioned quite a few of the towns I go through all the time - Scotia, Olar, Ulmer. The biggest town on that trip is Denmark, which is actually a pretty setting. Anyone from there know anything about the guy who's always out on 321 with maps and such, rain or shine, talking to himself? I worry about him if I don't see him, but 80% of the time I do. He must be a Denmark landmark.

321 is a fascinating drive. The camel in the pasture outside of Swansea is pretty cool.

One last question. I pass through the town of Norway on that drive. Compared to the other towns, Norway has a traffic light, etc., yet their high school is Hunter-Kinard-Tyler. Seems strange that Norway folks have to go west to really nothing for high school. I don't ever recall a Norway High. Anyone know anything about that?

PS: I miss Langley-Bath-Clearwater. Never went to a game there, but thought the name was cool.
Does that golf course in Denmark still operate?
 
Whitmire and Great Falls
Great Falls was a great little town back before JP Stevens shut down the 3 cotton mills that fed the economy. I had 3 grandparents that retired from there. My maternal grandparents never had a drivers license and walked to work everyday for several decades. As a kid, I rode my bicycle through the "mill village", and because there was very little air conditioning, I could smell wonderful aromas of "what's for dinner". These were the greatest memories of my life, and it's painful to drive through nowadays.
 
Great Falls was a great little town back before JP Stevens shut down the 3 cotton mills that fed the economy. I had 3 grandparents that retired from there. My maternal grandparents never had a drivers license and walked to work everyday for several decades. As a kid, I rode my bicycle through the "mill village", and because there was very little air conditioning, I could smell wonderful aromas of "what's for dinner". These were the greatest memories of my life, and it's painful to drive through nowadays.
When I was a small kid, we lived in Winnsboro. My Mom, a school teacher working at Great Falls High School, rode to work every day with another lady. I remember seeing football games in that stadium down in the valley across from the school. There's not much to "Flopeye" anymore, and it's a shame. Great Falls was once a great mill town.
 
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What kind of shape. I was told it closed. Glad to hear they are going.
A local group pooled their resources and bought it out. Completely transformed the course. In good shape and has always been a good layout. Not expensive
 
If you want to see abandoned or forgotten towns go to South Dakota...hundreds. Their idea of a town is 10 folks or more lol
A good friend from college moved to South Dakota. His wife is American Indian and he went to the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago to become a minister after a career in finance in Chicago. We out there to visit him and his wife and you are correct....the towns are small and are very far apart. Beautiful country but I would go nuts there. He loves it though and has learned to speak his wife's native language.
 
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I drive US 321 from where I live just over the Georgia line to Columbia for ballgames. Folks here mentioned quite a few of the towns I go through all the time - Scotia, Olar, Ulmer. The biggest town on that trip is Denmark, which is actually a pretty setting. Anyone from there know anything about the guy who's always out on 321 with maps and such, rain or shine, talking to himself? I worry about him if I don't see him, but 80% of the time I do. He must be a Denmark landmark.

321 is a fascinating drive. The camel in the pasture outside of Swansea is pretty cool.

One last question. I pass through the town of Norway on that drive. Compared to the other towns, Norway has a traffic light, etc., yet their high school is Hunter-Kinard-Tyler. Seems strange that Norway folks have to go west to really nothing for high school. I don't ever recall a Norway High. Anyone know anything about that?

PS: I miss Langley-Bath-Clearwater. Never went to a game there, but thought the name was cool.
We drive the same route on the way to Columbia. We got stopped for going over the speed limit a couple of years ago after we passed through Gifford. The officer started laughing and said he wasn’t going to give us a ticket because our car had a Gamecock on the Georgia license plate. He said he couldn’t wait to tell his friends who were Georgia fans about it.
 
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A good friend from college moved to South Dakota. His wife is American Indian and he went to the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago to become a minister after a career in finance in Chicago. We out there to visit him and his wife and you are correct....the towns are small and are very far apart. Beautiful country but I would go nuts there. He loves it though and has learned to speak his wife's native language.
There are 2 "towns" inside the Badlands. One is Interior and the other is Scenic. They literally look like Ghost Towns, especially Scenic. Interior has a populationof I think 41. It has 2 bars and the lady running the "grocery store" is also the Postmaster. LOL Wish I knew how to post pictures.
 
Know the Atkins family well. Grew up in Blackville. My father worked with Chip's brother Danny for many years.
Funny story for you and @Jbouton2
I went golfing with Chip one time and I suck at golf. Finally hit a good shot and said “at least I’m improving.”

He looked at me and said “that’s why I don’t give a most improved player award.”

Great man and coach. He had some really good teams at LR too.
 
Must have been a Brookland Mill, right?

I don't know but I have an old milk bottle labeled Brookland Dairy.

I recall an old wall near the corner of Meeting and State St that in faded letters read Brookland.

The New Brookland Tavern is named for Brookland, SC. It's interesting how Cayce thrived but Brookland was absorbed into West Columbia/Cayce.
 
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When I was a small kid, we lived in Winnsboro. My Mom, a school teacher working at Great Falls High School, rode to work every day with another lady. I remember seeing football games in that stadium down in the valley across from the school. There's not much to "Flopeye" anymore, and it's a shame. Great Falls was once a great mill town.
I worked in Winnsboro for a year in the 70s. It was a nice town but I hated the drive on hwy 321 from Columbia. If you got behind big trucks you were sunk.
 
I worked in Winnsboro for a year in the 70s. It was a nice town but I hated the drive on hwy 321 from Columbia. If you got behind big trucks you were sunk.
There was a time when Winnsboro was as nice a small town as there was in the state of S.C. People talk about the loss of the Mack plant, but the real beginning of the plummet was the loss of the U.S. Rubber plant there years before.
 
You do realize that this is a Gamecock sports message board, don’t you?..... And not, like, a “general, whatever subject flits through my head” board? Take it somewhere else, please.
 
You do realize that this is a Gamecock sports message board, don’t you?..... And not, like, a “general, whatever subject flits through my head” board? Take it somewhere else, please.
Oh... wait a sec.......there’s nothing good about Gamecock sports to talk about......NEVER MIND....Carry on.....
 
Funny story for you and @Jbouton2
I went golfing with Chip one time and I suck at golf. Finally hit a good shot and said “at least I’m improving.”

He looked at me and said “that’s why I don’t give a most improved player award.”

Great man and coach. He had some really good teams at LR too.

Coach Atkins lived on the same street as me when I was growing up.
 
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I appreciate this. The next time I go by Scotia for old time's sake, I will try to visit what remains of Miley.
It's hard for me to believe that there were as many as 500 people living there at one point. There are only 2 houses in Miley now
 
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