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Forgotten or absorbed towns across South Carolina

301and321 briefly come together just on the Bamberg County side of the county line and split up at Ulmer, which is just on the Allendale side
Gotcha. I used to go through there on my way down 321 to visit my grandmother in Scotia back when she was alive. One small town after another on 321. I remember Ulmer was a pretty busy junction back then. Seems I remember a restaurant and a motel. I seem to also remember seeing a public swimming pool near there beside 321, but it's vague now.
 
Gotcha. I used to go through there on my way down 321 to visit my grandmother in Scotia back when she was alive. One small town after another on 321. I remember Ulmer was a pretty busy junction back then. Seems I remember a restaurant and a motel. I seem to also remember seeing a public swimming pool near there beside 321, but it's vague now.
It had some gas stations and a truck stop that was big and spacious with a restaurant. Probably more business than population. 301 was the I-95 of its day. Bumper to bumper traffic most of the year. Motels in every town along with restaurants and gas stops
 
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The dearth of textiles has never been redeemed by anything else in most such towns. Lancaster and Chester are pitiful. Lancaster County is booming in the Indian Land area but the city has deteriorated tragically.
Chester and Union are a lot alike, just a slow death for the past 30 - 40 years.
 
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What high school did you attend?
Barnwell- BHS. Warhorses baby!! We were good when I went there. Made the state championship in I think it was 97, my first year in Columbia. I went to the game at WB and watched us lose on a last second TD pass..
 
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Barnwell- BHS. Warhorses baby!! We were good when I went there. Made the state championship in I think it was 97, my first year in Columbia. I went to the game at WB and watched us lose on a last second TD pass..
I've heard of them certainly. I think they won some state championships. I was trying to get a bead on what Salkehatchie was near.
 
Saw this old video segment at the link below of "On the Road with Charles Kuralt" profiling the small town of Fort Motte, SC once 35 miles from Columbia, SC which was slowly dying. In 1972 all that remained was one general store and the post office. Nothing now remains. Story was about how progress in bigger cities like Columbia were killing small towns like Fort Motte. Also mentioned same thing happening in towns like Preston, Rowesville, Branchville, Lone Star. Of which I had only heard of Branchville.

Youtube - On the Road with Charles Kuralt - Fort Motte, SC
 
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I grew up in Allendale SC- built up in the 60/70s around HWY 301 &321… When the Interstates cut through it KILLED Allendale because there was suddenly no traffic coming through. That place is a third world country today. We moved there in like 79 when I was a baby and I watched the town literally crumble around us growing up… Allendale and Barnwell used to be real good football teams- for 2A- I haven’t kept up that much with 2A HS any more, but they have virtually no jobs or population growth there! My parents moved away years ago so I literally have no reason to visit and I DON’T.
I did, too. I lived in the small town on US 301 named Ulmer. We used to call it Ulmers until some historian corrected us. You have the story of those town's demise down pat. Allendale used to be full of dozens of motels, restaurants and such. Now, there's none except the ones USC-Salkehatchie has converted to dorms. Allendale is truly a dying town only inhabited by elderly and very poor people. It used to be a great place to grow up. Ulmer has practically dried up. I still know a few people there and we buried my parents and much of our family in Great Salkehatchie Cemetery in Ulmer. I was recently told that only 3 white and 3 black families still live there. Basically, nobody moves there and many of the old houses are falling down. A real shame.
 
I've heard of them certainly. I think they won some state championships. I was trying to get a bead on what Salkehatchie was near.
I'm not sure about those championships. I do know that Allendale-Fairfax HS used to have a really good football team that had lots of community support and games were always crowded. I remember when they played for the state championship on their level. They played Irmo at Irmo in a flooding rain. Our coach wanted to postpone the game, but Irmo wouldn't agree. AF beat them 39-0. I was there.
 
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I'm not sure it was "voluntary", I guess at some level it was, in that trade agreements were made with foreign countries with cheaper labor.
I think a more precise characterization is that influential people made deliberate policy decisions that gave rise to this disaster.
 
Saw this old video segment at the link below of "On the Road with Charles Kuralt" profiling the small town of Fort Motte, SC once 35 miles from Columbia, SC which was slowly dying. In 1972 all that remained was one general store and the post office. Nothing now remains. Story was about how progress in bigger cities like Columbia were killing small towns like Fort Motte. Also mentioned same thing happening in towns like Preston, Rowesville, Branchville, Lone Star. Of which I had only heard of Branchville.

Youtube - On the Road with Charles Kuralt - Fort Motte, SCCSX
Branchville was on the map for the main reason of a nearby coal-fired electric plant. Branchville and the electric plant was served by the Hampton & Branchville Railroad, a small very wealthy railroad due to the coal moving on it. That coal plant has long closed and the railroad is slowly dying as no trains use it. CSX RR owns it and there has been rumors that they will reopen that line and even extend it to the Volvo plant in Ridgeville. The coal plant was in Cannadys.
 
I've heard of them certainly. I think they won some state championships. I was trying to get a bead on what Salkehatchie was near.
Salk is in Allendale- 17 miles from Barnwell. Used to have to drive it twice a day at least…
 
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Branchville was on the map for the main reason of a nearby coal-fired electric plant. Branchville and the electric plant was served by the Hampton & Branchville Railroad, a small very wealthy railroad due to the coal moving on it. That coal plant has long closed and the railroad is slowly dying as no trains use it. CSX RR owns it and there has been rumors that they will reopen that line and even extend it to the Volvo plant in Ridgeville. The coal plant was in Cannadys.
I drove through Branchville today on my way to Lodge. As I was leaving I saw a sign pointing to Yemesse and I thought of you.
 
Best peaches in the state in Kline, Pat's Peaches. The Chappel's have ran that for as long as I can remember.
Yeah, they grow more peaches in Allendale and Barnwell counties alone than the entire state of Georgia. “peach state” my arse… oddly I have never been a big fan of peaches, and grew up literally right across the street from a massive peach farm.
 
I drove through Branchville today on my way to Lodge. As I was leaving I saw a sign pointing to Yemesse and I thought of you.
Know it’s not my business but I have to ask what someone from Grey Court is doing in my neck of the woods. This is nothing but country
 
Union is another small town experiencing a slow death.
Actually, my friend from Union visited me last week. He was talking about several new restaurants that were opening in Union so I asked if Union was starting to grow some. He said yes and that most of it was because people were wanting out of big towns/cities and because of the growth of USC-Union.
 
My wife's hometown. They're trying to bring it back. Mack Truck killed that town. They still have a pretty good football team
Barring an economic miracle, Winnsboro will never be what it was back in the 1950s and 1960s. Actually the beginning of the end was the loss of the U.S. Rubber plant. Mack was supposed to assuage that loss, but then it ceased operations as well.
 
Being from Blacksburg the town has basically stayed the same number wise but the good folks have died out and been replaced by meth addicts and deadbeats. What's bad it has 85 running through it and is the first town in SC on 85 nestled between Greenville and Charlotte. The Catawba casino is building a few miles up the road on the NC side and could have some impact. With its geographic location the town should've grown much much more the last few decades.
 
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Actually, my friend from Union visited me last week. He was talking about several new restaurants that were opening in Union so I asked if Union was starting to grow some. He said yes and that most of it was because people were wanting out of big towns/cities and because of the growth of USC-Union.

Possibly, but they will leave as soon as they can if they have children. The school board, and the district, is a joke. If anybody has the slightest interest in their child receiving the best possible educational opportunities they can get, they aren't going to Union. As far as restaurants? Last time I went through there fine dining in Union was at the McDonald's or the Waffle House. Seriously. That is as good as it gets there. A town caught in a time warp
 
Not much going on in the town of Central. It was once hailed as the "Center of the Industrial South" as it's half way between Charlotte and Atlanta.

Liberty also hasn't seen much growth. Once FDR was traveling from Warm Springs to DC during a rain storm. When he looked out his train window and spotted the depot sign amidst the heavy downpour he said, "If this is Liberty give me death".
 
Not much going on in the town of Central. It was once hailed as the "Center of the Industrial South" as it's half way between Charlotte and Atlanta.

Liberty also hasn't seen much growth. Once FDR was traveling from Warm Springs to DC during a rain storm. When he looked out his train window and spotted the depot sign amidst the heavy downpour he said, "If this is Liberty give me death".
What kind of shape is Pickens in? My family lived there briefly during one of my teenage years.
 
Possibly, but they will leave as soon as they can if they have children. The school board, and the district, is a joke. If anybody has the slightest interest in their child receiving the best possible educational opportunities they can get, they aren't going to Union. As far as restaurants? Last time I went through there fine dining in Union was at the McDonald's or the Waffle House. Seriously. That is as good as it gets there. A town caught in a time warp
I attended a wedding reception at some eating place in downtown Union - maybe five years ago. Dinner was served and it was quite good.
 
Not much going on in the town of Central. It was once hailed as the "Center of the Industrial South" as it's half way between Charlotte and Atlanta.

Liberty also hasn't seen much growth. Once was traveling from Warm Springs to DC during a rain storm. When he looked out his train window and spotted the depot sign amidst the torrents he said, "If this is Liberty give me death".
What kind of shape is Pickens in? My family lived there briefly during one of my teenage years.

Gorgeous new high school and a town with a great view of the mountains plus the state's largest flea market. Still a mostly undiscovered gem of the foothills. With the price of real estate don't know why it hasn't become a bedroom community for Greenville.
 
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Barring an economic miracle, Winnsboro will never be what it was back in the 1950s and 1960s. Actually the beginning of the end was the loss of the U.S. Rubber plant. Mack was supposed to assuage that loss, but then it ceased operations as well.
The town was still doing ok because of all the nuclear plant money. Mack Truck came in and brought a bunch of outsiders and the evil empire known as Walmart. Walmart drove all the local small business out. Then Mack left, the outsiders left, property values dropped and the town had lost it’s charm. US Rubber possibly started it but Mack sped it up and ended any chance of revival.
 
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Possibly, but they will leave as soon as they can if they have children. The school board, and the district, is a joke. If anybody has the slightest interest in their child receiving the best possible educational opportunities they can get, they aren't going to Union. As far as restaurants? Last time I went through there fine dining in Union was at the McDonald's or the Waffle House. Seriously. That is as good as it gets there. A town caught in a time warp
I’ve only been in Union a few times-to see my friend and it was in my territory when I was a state investigator-just passing on what a native told me this month.
 
Bishopville and Mullins are shadows of what they once were. Bishopville was a busy little town back in the late 60s and into the 70s when I was young. Now it is pretty much nothing.
 
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Know it’s not my business but I have to ask what someone from Grey Court is doing in my neck of the woods. This is nothing but country
I drive cars/trucks for a local dealership. Yesterday I delivered sales papers to a customer in Lodge as a courtesy so they did not have to drive up here. Beautiful country down there!
 
I drive cars/trucks for a local dealership. Yesterday I delivered sales papers to a customer in Lodge as a courtesy so they did not have to drive up here. Beautiful country down there!
Thanks. Ever in Lodge again try a cheeseburger at the corner store. Homemade. Fries are usually cooked just right too
 
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