Laurens, South Carolina (Greenville, Chester, Richburg: houses, bankrupt, closing)

[kat2k]

Has anyone here been to Laurens, SC lately? I haven't been there in a few years but when I last saw it the place just looked so sad. So many of the buildings looked just old [not a good old], sad, and run down. I remember years back, it used to be a pretty nice place. Parts of the city looked so poor and a few homes almost poverty-stricken. Has this city had any luck re-inventing or revitalizing itself? Has anything been tried? I saw old, abandoned mills and plants [4 if I remember correctly]. lots of run-down mill houses on a few of the roads. It was just a sad place to be. This isn't the only place like this in the state though I guess.

[brightcopperkettles]

My goodness, I know what you mean. I went home to SC for Christmas this year to see my parents; they live in Chester, SC. It was D-I-S-M-A-L. I don't know about Laurens (which used to be a lovely place, by the way), but the cotton mills closing in Chester pretty much dried the whole town up. I think the cotton mills closing all over the South (because the owners are sending all the work to China, etc., anymore) have caused many small Southern towns, whose people depended on those mills for their livelihoods, to dry up. I saw this coming a long time ago, but only those towns with really smart, forward-thinking councils had the sense to bring in other industries to offset the closure of the cotton mills. So, so sad...

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by brightcopperkettles

My goodness, I know what you mean. I went home to SC for Christmas this year to see my parents; they live in Chester, SC. It was D-I-S-M-A-L. I don't know about Laurens (which used to be a lovely place, by the way), but the cotton mills closing in Chester pretty much dried the whole town up. I think the cotton mills closing all over the South (because the owners are sending all the work to China, etc., anymore) have caused many small Southern towns, whose people depended on those mills for their livelihoods, to dry up. I saw this coming a long time ago, but only those towns with really smart, forward-thinking councils had the sense to bring in other industries to offset the closure of the cotton mills. So, so sad...

sorry kat2k...don't mean to hijack your thread...but was wondering what brightcopperkettles will think of the following two stories (I have provided links below)

http://www.cegltd.com/story.asp?stor...line=Developer

http://www.onlinechester.com/articles/2007/04/20/headlines/news1.txt (broken link)

[brightcopperkettles]

Yes, I am familiar with both of these plans. As I said, I get the local paper (the Chester News and Reporter) mailed to me in WA. What I was referring to was how bad the town of Chester looked and how sad it was that the major employer of that area, Springs Industries, was closing up its mills. The plans you referred to above will affect Richburg and Lando, both outlining areas in Chester County; I was actually referring to the town of Chester itself.

I remain in e-mail contact with a member of the board as well as get the local paper, so I definitely know what is going on at home. What I would like to see, and what the council is working on, to my understanding, is a business and/or businesses that will positively impact the town of Chester and will put more people to work, which will in turn draw in other businesses and hopefully will get more people interested in Chester again.

What I would have liked to have seen was people to have looked at these things years ago to have positioned Chester such that when Springs closed, Chester would not have suffered like it has the last few years.

Hope that clarifies things. Please see my other city-data post for more information: http://www.city-data.com/forum/south...-towns-sc.html

P.S. This thread was supposed to be about Laurens; I apologize for making it about Chester. I was simply drawing a comparison between the two.

[lovethecarolinas]

Originally Posted by brightcopperkettles

Yes, I am familiar with both of these plans. As I said, I get the local paper (the Chester News and Reporter) mailed to me in WA. What I was referring to was how bad the town of Chester looked and how sad it was that the major employer of that area, Springs Industries, was closing up its mills. The plans you referred to above will affect Richburg and Lando, both outlining areas in Chester County; I was actually referring to the town of Chester itself.

I remain in e-mail contact with a member of the board as well as get the local paper, so I definitely know what is going on at home. What I would like to see, and what the council is working on, to my understanding, is a business and/or businesses that will positively impact the town of Chester and will put more people to work, which will in turn draw in other businesses and hopefully will get more people interested in Chester again.

What I would have liked to have seen was people to have looked at these things years ago to have positioned Chester such that when Springs closed, Chester would not have suffered like it has the last few years.

Hope that clarifies things. Please see my other city-data post for more information: http://www.city-data.com/forum/south...-towns-sc.html

P.S. This thread was supposed to be about Laurens; I apologize for making it about Chester. I was simply drawing a comparison between the two.

Dang girl...who got you up on the wrong side of the bed? Sorry that I was not privy to your post where you mentioned that you receive your local paper. My question was an innocent one..and was just curious what you thought...but alas...I no longer care....please to all...carry on with the Laurens, SC conversation

again kat2k...I apologize for the invasion

[brightcopperkettles]

Originally Posted by lovethecarolinas

Dang girl...who got you up on the wrong side of the bed? Sorry that I was not privy to your post where you mentioned that you receive your local paper. My question was an innocent one..and was just curious what you thought...but alas...I no longer care....please to all...carry on with the Laurens, SC conversation

again kat2k...I apologize for the invasion

Honey, didn't mean to sound hoity-toity. We just have to be so danged careful on these boards, and I didn't want to offend you or anyone else, so I was trying to explain my previous post. PLEASE don't get offended. You didn't "invade" anything.

I was concerned that perhaps my comment about Chester would seem as though I was "hijacking" a thread that was supposed to be about Laurens, that's all.

You have a nice day, now!

[LaurensIsMyHome]

Here are some links that may help those seeking information about Laurens:

City of Laurens
Chamber of Commerce
Laurens, South Carolina - Wikipedia

[Carolina_1690]

Laurens is a very quaint little town. There's not much going on, but its near Greenville, so there are a lot of commuters. Check out downtown and some of the beautiful churches and homes on Main Street. Laurens will be a cool place again before too long. Its got too much rural charm for it to not turn around.

[brs]

Originally Posted by kat2k

Has anyone here been to Laurens, SC lately? I haven't been there in a few years but when I last saw it the place just looked so sad. So many of the buildings looked just old [not a good old], sad, and run down. I remember years back, it used to be a pretty nice place. Parts of the city looked so poor and a few homes almost poverty-stricken. Has this city had any luck re-inventing or revitalizing itself? Has anything been tried? I saw old, abandoned mills and plants [4 if I remember correctly]. lots of run-down mill houses on a few of the roads. It was just a sad place to be. This isn't the only place like this in the state though I guess.

i live in laurens and i do admit it has gotten pretty bad, but they've been doing a lot of remodeling. they're building new duplexes and communities. they're restoring some of the older buildings and resturants and closing down a lot of the bad ones. there's rumors of a super walmart. i know that sounds lame but this is laurens. lol! and they've almost finished tearing down the mills. they're keeping the furnace for historical values.*hmmmm*

[Frankie117]

Laurens did get hit hard by the collapse of the cotton industry. Mill and farm wise. Both processes are now done overseas in Egypt, China, and India, and most American Textile companies went bankrupt..(West Point Stevens, Avondale Mills, etc.). Like much of the small-town Upstate, Laurens is not the town it was, and there is not much that can be done for it at this point.