The Atlantic Coast Line RR stopped here once.
Tracks are still here but not much else.
Train Don’t Stop Anymore
Category Archives: Main Street USA
Stop At Main Street, USA
Main Street is always changing, but keeps the same old and tired feeling when shot in black and white.
I admit to seeking out the side street just off Main, the tracks that cross over it, and the store fronts waiting for new tenants.
There are railroad tracks on Main. They may or may not be active but you can count on it cutting through the street. A constant theme here is a rail line that no longer stops at Main Street. The town rarely reinvents itself.
Above is the typical scene I have come across shooting here, the ‘Dollar’ store sitting along the original streets. A variation is everywhere near ‘Main’. If you are born / raised in the south it is never noticed, it just is. A transplant always wonders how they can show up everywhere.
The beauty of Main Street is that it never gives up and the changes, while small, are constant.
Taken on a random drive through South Carolina.
Gotta Love It – Welcome
The other day I wrote about craziness being around the corner (click here), little did I know.
First a ’53 Chevy’ floating in the air then down the road rest stop for Flying Saucers.
Same day, maybe even same town. Something in the water?
I think a storm or two may have done some damage, or maybe a crash landing. This was ‘semi’ famous once I have since read.
The saucer had begun to be built in 1994 and became a local tourist attraction, with a $1 entry fee. The center was the subject of a 2001 segment in The Daily Show, in which Stephen Colbert (a Charleston native) presented a caricatured tour of the attraction. In 2003 Jody Pendarvis added a smaller saucer, about 20 feet in width, to the top of the original structure and began living in the saucer during the summers when the saucer is cooler than his nearby mobile home. In lieu of an admission fee, there is a painted blue wooden container that says “Tips” near the entrance.
Below is the ‘warp engine’ design from the star ship Enterprise.
Some days the ‘stuff’ just keeps coming at you.
And so, this article is another ‘you can’t make this stuff up’.
General Store – Post Office
Once the main store and meeting place in Lone Star, South Carolina.
The town is gone, but the store is doing fine. Just not in Lone Star.
Now this store, and a few other old buildings make up the ‘Lone Star BBQ’ in Santee, South Carolina (down the road from the original town).
For those non-southern types, like me, BBQ is ‘pulled pork’. It is not a thing to cook on, or attend. That is very important down here, as well as the different types of ‘BBQ Sauce’ added while you eat.
The Lone Star BBQ eatery is old school south. Get a plate, pile on southern food, and find a place to sit. Be sure to grab a few Hush Puppies, some collards, of course Mac & Cheese.
You will soon be sayin Y’all without thinking, just like the rest of us transplants.
Main Street, USA 2020
What will Main Street USA look like in the coming decade.
We are not starting out very well.
note; Main Street USA has been a constant theme since the start of this web site. Going back it’s interesting to see how little has changed.
Greetings From Manning
In any town around South Carolina you will find several churches like this. Simple and elegant buildings that are very picturesque.
Main Street USA.
Southern Government Buildings
I have this small group of photographs taken of local South Carolina government buildings. Basically a few images that caught my eye, none taken with any thought of what to do next.
Now I know, throw a few in the same article since they are worlds apart.
The first here is a grand old building, designed by a world famous architect. The odd thing, it is a small county court house, his other buildings are in the US capital and other large cities.
Above is city hall, Manning, South Carolina. It’s perfect. A re-purposed building on the towns Main Street. No pretense, it fits nicely.
Last is another county court house. I don’t know much about this building, bit it is imposing. Maybe that’s the idea. Going to court…maybe jail.
A Main Street, Different Looks
A few photographs, an old Main Street, but with an unusually wide street. The automobile made, and broke, small towns.
This being wide helps cars pass through, and not stop, in a town.
People went right by on their way to the mall. Main Street dried up. However, there is some revenge. Now it’s the Mall that’s dry. On-line orders come right to your door.
Anyway, I break one of the basic, and most important rules, when I create photographs for a B&W / Monochrome article. I look at each image as an individual and finish it with what I think is the best for the photo.
I’m not technically correct, images should be consistent.
B&W is all about shadows and contrast, and some just look better than others in a particular type of photograph. I do follow composition guide lines and try to finish each as close to a film version as possible.
Each image here was finished in a different style. I even cheated on the last and it has an underlying red filter to accent contrasts.
I probably still do B&W / Monochrome because I get to play more.