View allAll Photos Tagged monckscornersc
Chatting with some of the locals during my two-day camping trip near Monck's Corner, one of them asked me to document William's Farm Supply. She had very fond memories of her parents taking her here as a child, and told me that one day, Mr. Williams locked up the store and left, and died during the night. She said the store had been closed ever since, preserved like a time capsule inside. She told me there were no photos of the store online, and made me promise I would stop before leaving and make some photographs.
I have discovered there are indeed photos online, and it wasn't quite an overnight closure of Mr. William's death - the family kept it going for four more months, but I do indeed feel honored that a someone took enough of a shine to my photographs that wanted me to document such a special part of their life, and the community. Below is an article I found online about the closure of Williams Farm Supply.
THE BERKELEY OBSERVER:
"If you’ve traveled to downtown Moncks Corner recently and crossed over the railroad tracks on Main Street, you may have noticed a piece of history no longer open. Williams Farm Supply, which was located at 108 E. Railroad Ave., permanently closed its doors for business Dec. 31, 2019.
The store had been in business since the late 1920s. For many people who passed through the heart of Moncks Corner daily, the store reminded them of simpler times long before computers, the internet and smartphones. For more than 90 years, the store served as the go-to place for all your farming needs.
“I remember as a kid going in some feed stores with my grandfather and my uncle,” said one Berkeley County resident who gave the store a five-star review on Yahoo. “Dad wasn’t really into feed and seed places. This place is just like one of those stores of old. Man, what a great place.”
“This is a throwback to my childhood,” another person posted. “This is a real live feed and seed. It’s complete with chickens, ducks, and bunnies.”
Now that the iconic store, whose outward appearance at first glance could fool many people, has come to an end, some Berkeley County residents say they are sad to see it go. Along with the many treasures found inside a store worn down from time were many memories made.
“It is truly a landmark store and a pillar of the community,” one resident said. “This breaks my heart.”
“I’m shattered,” said another resident.
The store’s closing comes four months after the death of the owner, Rusty Williams, III. He passed away on Aug. 31 at 75 years old. For three generations, he and his family ran the store.
“Whenever I visited you at the Williams Farm Supply, you always had a ready hello and excellent service for your customers,” one person wrote under his obituary’s guest book.
“He was filled with advice on any and all matters of feed and fertilizer, plants and animals,” another person posted. “I will miss seeing him.”
Williams left behind a wife and son. He was buried at Spring Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery in Ridgeville on Sept. 8." (2019)
www.berkeleyobserver.com/2020/01/26/williams-farm-supply-...
PLEASE, NO GRAPHICS, BADGES, OR AWARDS IN COMMENTS. They will be deleted.
We automatically think of barbecue restaurants as rural fixtures, free standing small buildings on secondary roads or at the edge of small towns. We don't think of Moncks Corner, SC, as a major metro area, but it has grown considerably. It once had a downtown section which decayed with the urban sprawl of shopping malls and scattered subdivisions. The town is making an effort to revive their friendly past.
We came upon Music Man's Bar-B-Que restaurant by accident after missing a turn toward Eutawville, SC, with Schwettmann's on our mind. Just over the tracks on Railroad Avenue we spotted the place. It is sandwiched between other restored downtown structures in what appears to be a sincere effort at urban renewal. It seemed unnatural to eat barbecue within the confines of an incorporated municipality, but we were hungry and Music Man's was inviting.
Clean barbecue joints surprise us. While orderly, fresh and efficient, it was also a bit funky, folksy and very hospitable. On entering a little girl would pop up out of a cardboard box long enough to greet visitors then retire within the box awaiting the next customer. The walls are adorned with signed illustrations of wide ribbons of sheet music, a guitar and a set of drums. We were told that the fellow who owns the place is a long time drummer in a popular local band. Today was their first anniversary in this cozy little place.
You may eat in or take out as you wish. The buffet is very nice and the pork is offered cooked with or without sauce. We enjoyed the meal so much that we're considering placing Music Man's on our list of the 20 top BBQ joints in South Carolina. When folks are partial to a particular BBQ spot they will drive all day to get there. We think that Music Man's will become an important draw in the renewall of this section of downtown Moncks Corner.
As we eased out of Moncks Corner an organized crowd was gathering just across the tracks. It looked festive, the police were smiling and a street dance was about to begin. The shindig seems yet another constructive and family oriented gesture of support for the revival of this old downtown section. As wildly increasing growth in population and construction sweeps Berkeley County, the restoration of charm and comfort to downtown Moncks Corner is encouraging.
As haircutting made the transition from barbering to styling we found that more money was being demanded for tending what was becoming less hair. These days it's done by appointment and with considerable promotion of a hair care products...for men. An " appointment " in most cases means that one arrives at an appointed time to begin the long wait rather than dropping in to wait for service when you just felt like coming.
We've got to admit that these new schemes in busines don't wash well with us anymore than the monstrous new buildings in which such they are practiced. We long for the old time shops. We were making our way Through Berkeley County and ran right up upon such a place as we've long hoped to find.
We did a little sidewalk surfing and eased right up next to the Fashion Barber Shop. What a great little building they've got. It just doesn't seem like the type of place which takes reservations so if you're going to wait anyway, there's a nice bench out front from which to watch the world pass by.
It's always a pleasure to discover an interesting little place which has not yet been seduced by modern devices or the developer's greedy hands. This is certainly such a place and we're pleased to have found it in our travels.
A gentle breeze passes thru the cypress trees in a swamp near Moncks Corner, SC. It is so quiet here you hear every sound... frogs jumping, leaves falling, fish breaching the surface for insects, birds flapping their wings in takeoff and all those other creepy ones you listen twice for.