Today my friend and I biked around a forgotten little SC town called Winnsboro in Fairfield County, SC (1). The area boomed in the early 1900's when Cotton was a true cash crop. There was a large mill which employed many residents. Most of the employees (who's descendants are now in utter poverty) still live in the homes from that era.
Winnsboro has the skeleton of an early twentieth century town, with a main street, elegant churches, antebellum homes and grid like neighborhoods with tree-lined streets. The town is now mostly black, except for what remains of the "rich" section of town (columned mansions with large lots on a hill a few miles from the mill). In all, little has changed from a hundred years ago (2). Though even many of the formerly nice houses have fallen into the hands of the "lower" classes. There is something rather sad about seeing a once regal southern mansion in ruins. The worst example I saw was a huge two story brick home with two trailers in the back yard, several cars on blocks, trash all around, and a corner store out front.. It's like seeing a beautiful ex girlfriend as a prostitute. There is something beautiful just wasting away that nags at the soul. The dystopic visions of the future managed to generate a little anxiety and uneasiness within me.
I guess in some ways, my own little project to turn my house into a home is a much smaller version of what I saw in that town. It was just a reminder that progress doesn't always win out, and that generational problems are not solved quickly, if at all. Maybe that's what sent that feeling to my stomach.
There was small inklings of hope though. Main street had a few new stores (even a trendy looking little tea room), the old school was being restored and some guy who was running for mayor said they were trying to turn it into an art college, and there were a few homes that had been nicely renovated or were in the process of being renovated (overall the town had some really fantastic architecture).
It was also kind of worrisome to see these elderly couples, who are now trapped in these streets of slow decay. No one seemed to be spared. It was just sad looking. The brown leaves and dead grass of winter didn't help much either. It's not that poor people are bad, it's just that poverty tends to make people more desperate and it only takes one or two rotten souls to strike fear and lather dread on the hearts of a small community.
The vacant industrial sites tell the story of the town very well. The old mill has been re-purposed and turned into a tire factory, but there were several other massive buildings in town which were simply falling apart and rusting away - a Mack Truck plant, an auto parts manufacturers (probably collateral damage from the Mack Truck factory closure). Barbed wire covered these plants - asphalt gave way to dandelions and wild grasses.
Apparently they were one of the larger employers in the area -- lured by tax subsidies but left as soon as they ran out. I don't blame them, they just wanted to make money. These types of projects just need better planning for the inevitable. In the jubilation over the prospect of a better life (and because of competition with other states) they might not have overlooked the necessary thought needed for an amicable separation.
It seems like this would always be a problem with any town centered around a single, large employer. I guess that's why big cities can exist for a while. The departure of a single employer is not enough to derail a town as they depend on a variety of industry.
Though this is one of the central problems I have with industrialization. This is the difference in the old South and a new, modern America. Boom and Bust. These dramatic, but temporary, increases in income that make the resulting return to poverty all the more painful. It is the story of Detroit and the rest of the rust belt, of Route 66. of Railroad towns and mill towns. Their fate was married to a single industry or business and when things changed, so did they. It is the story of Salley (with the once iconic Salley Manufacturing Outlet) and all the other textile and furniture manufacturers that peppered North and South Carolina. They are all but forgotten.
Urbanization, industrialization, and specialization all require external capital infusions (via trade or direct investment). The jobs they create result in a larger, longer term supply of housing than is needed. They also support business that depend on the incomes of workers from these mega-employers. When these factories shutter, so do the communities. Foreclosures. Real estate prices fall. Schools wane as their tax bases weaken. The best residents flee. All for JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. I would argue that these unsustainable "economic development" projects are destabilizing. This is the reverse of Trickle-Down economics. If we are to continue these types of projects, we need to ensure that they are unwound in an orderly manner.
As the TED Talk I posted this morning alluded to the difference in idleness and boredom, there is also a difference in not having a job and being "unemployed." A hundred years ago, it only meant you lacked luxuries, but it did not mean you suffered relative to your peers. Though the "old south" is regularly maligned for being a racist and provincial, it did offer something very valuable - a self-sustaining life. Even as recently as 1950, my dad and his parents lived this life. Though not entirely self-sufficient, it was stable. Barring drought, there wasn't much that was going to disrupt their lives. They had an out house, they grew a lot of their own food, they had a close-nit family. Even without modern medicine, many lived to be in their 80's and 90's. Aunt Pearlu was even over 100. They had a good life.
Unfortunately many of the people living in Winnsboro do not. Sadly they live on small lots of land in small rotting homes. Though it all seems so unnecessary as just a mile or two from town there are thousands of acres of farmland. It just seems so perverse to have people piled on top of each other when they live next to wide open countryside.
In future decades, I hope we can do a much better job of planning these developments so that they don't leave entire towns (and in come cases generations) trapped in decay.
I guess I should also say that while my prognosis for the future is negative/uncertain I did have a good time exploring what was left of it. It certainly imparted me with a fresh reminder of the gratitude I should find in my own comfortable life.
I also have tinge of regret that my peculiar form of tourism did not make more of an impact. All I bought was some fried chicken and a beer while I was in town.
Winnsboro has the skeleton of an early twentieth century town, with a main street, elegant churches, antebellum homes and grid like neighborhoods with tree-lined streets. The town is now mostly black, except for what remains of the "rich" section of town (columned mansions with large lots on a hill a few miles from the mill). In all, little has changed from a hundred years ago (2). Though even many of the formerly nice houses have fallen into the hands of the "lower" classes. There is something rather sad about seeing a once regal southern mansion in ruins. The worst example I saw was a huge two story brick home with two trailers in the back yard, several cars on blocks, trash all around, and a corner store out front.. It's like seeing a beautiful ex girlfriend as a prostitute. There is something beautiful just wasting away that nags at the soul. The dystopic visions of the future managed to generate a little anxiety and uneasiness within me.
I guess in some ways, my own little project to turn my house into a home is a much smaller version of what I saw in that town. It was just a reminder that progress doesn't always win out, and that generational problems are not solved quickly, if at all. Maybe that's what sent that feeling to my stomach.
There was small inklings of hope though. Main street had a few new stores (even a trendy looking little tea room), the old school was being restored and some guy who was running for mayor said they were trying to turn it into an art college, and there were a few homes that had been nicely renovated or were in the process of being renovated (overall the town had some really fantastic architecture).
It was also kind of worrisome to see these elderly couples, who are now trapped in these streets of slow decay. No one seemed to be spared. It was just sad looking. The brown leaves and dead grass of winter didn't help much either. It's not that poor people are bad, it's just that poverty tends to make people more desperate and it only takes one or two rotten souls to strike fear and lather dread on the hearts of a small community.
The vacant industrial sites tell the story of the town very well. The old mill has been re-purposed and turned into a tire factory, but there were several other massive buildings in town which were simply falling apart and rusting away - a Mack Truck plant, an auto parts manufacturers (probably collateral damage from the Mack Truck factory closure). Barbed wire covered these plants - asphalt gave way to dandelions and wild grasses.
Apparently they were one of the larger employers in the area -- lured by tax subsidies but left as soon as they ran out. I don't blame them, they just wanted to make money. These types of projects just need better planning for the inevitable. In the jubilation over the prospect of a better life (and because of competition with other states) they might not have overlooked the necessary thought needed for an amicable separation.
It seems like this would always be a problem with any town centered around a single, large employer. I guess that's why big cities can exist for a while. The departure of a single employer is not enough to derail a town as they depend on a variety of industry.
Though this is one of the central problems I have with industrialization. This is the difference in the old South and a new, modern America. Boom and Bust. These dramatic, but temporary, increases in income that make the resulting return to poverty all the more painful. It is the story of Detroit and the rest of the rust belt, of Route 66. of Railroad towns and mill towns. Their fate was married to a single industry or business and when things changed, so did they. It is the story of Salley (with the once iconic Salley Manufacturing Outlet) and all the other textile and furniture manufacturers that peppered North and South Carolina. They are all but forgotten.
Urbanization, industrialization, and specialization all require external capital infusions (via trade or direct investment). The jobs they create result in a larger, longer term supply of housing than is needed. They also support business that depend on the incomes of workers from these mega-employers. When these factories shutter, so do the communities. Foreclosures. Real estate prices fall. Schools wane as their tax bases weaken. The best residents flee. All for JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. I would argue that these unsustainable "economic development" projects are destabilizing. This is the reverse of Trickle-Down economics. If we are to continue these types of projects, we need to ensure that they are unwound in an orderly manner.
As the TED Talk I posted this morning alluded to the difference in idleness and boredom, there is also a difference in not having a job and being "unemployed." A hundred years ago, it only meant you lacked luxuries, but it did not mean you suffered relative to your peers. Though the "old south" is regularly maligned for being a racist and provincial, it did offer something very valuable - a self-sustaining life. Even as recently as 1950, my dad and his parents lived this life. Though not entirely self-sufficient, it was stable. Barring drought, there wasn't much that was going to disrupt their lives. They had an out house, they grew a lot of their own food, they had a close-nit family. Even without modern medicine, many lived to be in their 80's and 90's. Aunt Pearlu was even over 100. They had a good life.
Unfortunately many of the people living in Winnsboro do not. Sadly they live on small lots of land in small rotting homes. Though it all seems so unnecessary as just a mile or two from town there are thousands of acres of farmland. It just seems so perverse to have people piled on top of each other when they live next to wide open countryside.
In future decades, I hope we can do a much better job of planning these developments so that they don't leave entire towns (and in come cases generations) trapped in decay.
I guess I should also say that while my prognosis for the future is negative/uncertain I did have a good time exploring what was left of it. It certainly imparted me with a fresh reminder of the gratitude I should find in my own comfortable life.
I also have tinge of regret that my peculiar form of tourism did not make more of an impact. All I bought was some fried chicken and a beer while I was in town.
___
(1) It occured to me that this
is probably one of the poorest counties in the state (excluding a few wealthy
areas around the nuclear power plants. Ironically I lived in Fairfield County,
CT when I worked at Bridgewater. It is one of the richest counties in the US.
(2) (I met a man who was
running for mayor and he said 80% of the
children are on free and reduced lunches-
though they have some of
the highest per pupil spending, they also have some of the worst performing
schools in
the state). What will happen to these kids? What will happen to the
children of teen moms in these areas? I see no easy way out.
______
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