♪ ♪ ♪ (male speaker) Welcome to Watermelon Country.

The counties of Allendale and Barnwell in South Carolina are almost synonymous with the juicy, mouth-watering fruit, which, though often a luxury in the North, is a summertime treat in the South.

Watermelon is not the only thing for which Allendale and Barnwell are noted.

For example, Allendale County, officially created in 1919, has the largest farms and ranches per acre in the state.

The town of Allendale, the county seat, goes back much further in that it originated in 1850, as one historian remarked, "...in the heart of the old plantation area, approximately 50 miles from the sea."

Allendale County was allegedly named for the Allen family, who were among the first settlers of the territory.

Who could tell you more and better about the background of a town and a county than a resident who is proud of his home?

A man who is vitally interested in Allendale and its historical past is Allendale attorney Tom Lawton.

Today, while visiting the first schoolhouse in the town of Allendale, I found several very interesting books, one of which is Judge Williams James "Life of Francis Marion," an extremely rare volume.

This small building was constructed in 1876 by Miss Augusta Arnold, who was the first schoolmistress for the young gentry of the town of Allendale.

Many of the citizens who were later to become prominent in the founding of Allendale County attended school at Miss Arnold's feet.

Fortunately, this small building was saved for posterity when, several years ago, ladies of the town reclaimed it and had it moved to this spot in the schoolyard of the present elementary school of the town of Allendale.

The first settlement of the area that is now Allendale County goes back over 200 years ago.

In fact, the first settlements here were just slightly less than 100 years after the founding of the first permanent settlement at Charleston.

The county geographically straddles the line that was historically the division between the colonial Lowcountry and the Upcountry backwoods.

To the south of this line in Allendale County, we find the area that was, in the early days, was in St. Peters Parish and Prince William's Parish of Beaufort District.

Just to the north of this area was Winton County, the forerunner of the present Barnwell District.

Besides this uniqueness geographically, the county also is unique in that the shape of the county resembles the shape of the state of South Carolina.

Our 35 square miles are covered with many areas of rich forest and rich farmlands.

The earliest settlers here came in search of the lush canebreaks that were so ideal for their cattle.

Today, the farms and ranches in Allendale County, which are the largest of any county in the state, are among our biggest assets.

The county itself was formed in 1920 from portions of Hampton County and of Barnwell County.

I believe that the legislative act setting up the county was actually passed in 1919, and construction of our handsome courthouse was begun in 1920.

(Grosboll) A remnant of Allendale's past is the Gravel Hill home built about 1857.

The man who would be most familiar with the inner and financial workings of a town would be its leading citizen.

This is Allendale's mayor, Dr. Richard Boyles.

We're just as proud of this town of Allendale as we can be.

I believe the old saying goes that a town is just as good as the citizens that live within its city limits.

And we are proud to say that we have some of the finest white and Negro citizens that could live any place, not only this great state, but this great country.

We are indeed proud of the fact that our present governor, Bob McNair, was once a citizen of Allendale.

This town hall in the background was once used by an old Allendale theatrical group.

Our main source of income here is the tourist industry, but this has really changed in the last two decades.

As a practicing optometrist, I remember, 17 years ago, that our main source of business or income was during the fall months, the time the farmer was gathering his crops.

Now we have here in Allendale, I believe, about $10 million worth of motels and modern restaurants.

We also have about 20 modern service stations.

We feel that we have a very good town.

We work in harmony with each other.

I wish the outsiders could come visit us and see the homes, not only in the white area but also in the Negro.

We're very proud of the prosperity that we've all accomplished here.

Our future regarding Allendale we think is very good.

We have two of the most important railway lines running through the city.

As far as the city government make-up, we have six councilmen, we have four policemen, we have modern police patrol cars-- we just purchased a new one-- and this nice, beautiful fire truck in back of us isn't too old.

We also have another one.

We have a fire chief who lives over the city hall.

At present we have a very enthused beautification program started.

We have county directors as well as working through the federal programs, and it's amazing how citizens, you mention the word beautifications, how citizens take hold of this.

Even the business districts paint the stores and clean the sidewalks.

We have neighbors all over.

It's really an inspiration to see how people are interested in beautifying the town.

We have parks in the process of being dug up, and new shrubbery and grass is being planted.

(Grosboll) Allendale's population is about 3,200, so it could certainly fall into the category of a small town.

Perhaps, though, instead of small, in this case the adjective should be comfortable.

Mr. Lawton, why did you choose to return here to set up your law practice?

When I came back from service, I was not sure what to do.

That was one of the reasons I went to Duke rather than to South Carolina.

I felt that that would prepare me to go out of state if I wanted to.

But after graduating there, the call of South Carolina was very strong.

And at first I went to Georgetown, where I briefly practiced law, but about the time that the bomb plant was announced in early-- it was announced, I think, in the fall of 1950, but really, construction work began in the winter of '51-- I realized that Allendale, especially, had a great deal to offer for the future.

For that reason I was happy to come back home, and I have always been happy that I did come back.

(Grosboll) Allendale and the neighboring town of Fairfax share a high school, halfway between the two towns.

They also combine their facilities in the Allendale-Fairfax Hospital and Nursing Home.

Ladies come from all over South Carolina to purchase millinery at the Winnette Hat Shoppe in Fairfax.

Farming, however, represents the main source of income to Allendale County residents.

We talked with the owner of Roselawn Plantation, farmer Don Sharpe.

Allendale County is probably the county that has the largest farms of any county in South Carolina.

You will find a number of large farms in this county.

We farm a lot of small grain, rye.

We farm soybeans, cotton.

We have a herd of beef cattle.

And we do specialize in that we grow a lot of certified seed.

And this county has a number of good watermelon farmers, and I expect that we are considered a county that grows high-quality melons.

A thousand-acre farm in Allendale County is maybe considered not too large a farm.

They have numbers of farms in Allendale County over 1,000 acres.

Some 15 to, years... some 15 years ago, we might say, um...well, in my particular instance, cotton would be bringing 80% of your income where some 15 years later, I'd say that cotton was less than 10% of my income.

So, uh, we've gone to other things.

Soybeans has been the tremendous boost to the economics of agriculture in our county and in our state.

A lot of people are on a "cow-calf" basis; that is, they grow the calves out until they get feeder size and then sell them in the feeder market.

However, this--we have a number of farmers in the county now that are beginning to "feed out" their feeders and in this way, realize more income.

(Grosboll) Barnwell County was formed in 1785 and was named for General John Barnwell of the Revolutionary War.

The town of Barnwell, also the county seat, was in the line of General Sherman's march to Columbia during the Civil War and was burned in 1865.

However, some things remain of the antebellum period.

This sundial was given to the town by Captain Joseph Allen in 1858.

Both Allendale and Barnwell counties are readying themselves for South Carolina's upcoming tricentennial.

One project of the Barnwell Historical Commission is the rebuilding of the Presbyterian Church, which was erected in 1832.

Joe Wilder, owner and manager of radio station WBAW, speaks of industry in Barnwell County.

Imagine, if you will, in 1951, a community of 2,000-- a rather sleepy community, like most Lowcountry communities in South Carolina-- and an influx of 10,000 to 12,000 people practically overnight as the result of the Savannah River Plant construction.

This lasted 18 months to two years; they said it would last three or four.

Then, all of a sudden, these people leave.

These big cities-- we called 'em cities, trailer cities-- gone practically overnight.

A traumatic experience for a community of this size, and also losing a third of the agricultural part of the county.

I arrived on the scene just at the height of the construction and experienced this great drop-off of population from 13,000 back to about 5,000.

The people in the community were stunned somewhat.

We were all stunned... what to do in the future?

We couldn't stay an agricultural county.

We were too small for that.

The future definitely lay in the growth of industry, and that's the direction we took.

The new people-- we did have a great influx of new people that remained-- as well as the older citizens worked together to land new industry.

It took two or three years after the Savannah River Plant construction phase died out before the coming of the Amerotron plant.

This was a Textron plant.

Textron was a huge industrial empire in this country, and landing that type of industry for Barnwell was quite a feat.

Then five years later, the coming of Shuron Continental-- it was known as Shuron then--also a Textron industry.

That means a great deal when a company as large as Textron builds two plants in five or six years.

We did have National Fastener, the mainstay of Barnwell industry all these years.

It was here before the Savannah River Plant.

Then, the coming of Chill-Chest to Williston and two or three other plants has made Barnwell County more of an industrial county, as far as the size of the county is concerned, than many in our state.

We've seen the new air-conditioned hospital, a new nursing home-- an ultramodern nursing home built-- municipal facilities, schools, and new churches, and so many things that are important to the growth and livability of a community this size.

I think Barnwell has a great future.

We're particularly proud of the new educational television station.

We're proud of our recreation facilities.

We have a large lake in the middle of town being built for recreational purposes.

Here in Barnwell County we have three country clubs.

That's unusual for, uh, a county of this size.

We are 18,000 people.

We have eight fields that are lighted for day and night recreational activities.

That again, I think, indicates that here in Barnwell County, we've grown, and I expect we'll continue to grow.

Our industrial development will not stop because we're headed in that direction.

We have to be.

I'd like to point to the Barnwell County Airport.

The Barnwell County Airport is situated on a 1,000-acre area on the outskirts of the community, actually a mile and a half from the center of town.

We have three 5,000-foot paved runways, and other facilities.

It's beautifully located, and right now, for example, we have some 15 airplanes that are based here.

For a community this size, that's good aviation activity.

The airport, the water situation-- that fact that we have two streams practically running through our community-- the housing situation is improving all the time.

New homes are going up.

We have industrial sites on rail facilities, near rail facilities, so Barnwell has a combination of factors that makes it possible for it to grow.

We don't have problems that some communities have.

I think the potential there-- and it may come slow because we give industries four years at least to grow and get on a paying basis and to assimilate the labor and get through with their training program before we actively seek new industry.

We're not seeking new industry every day.

(Grosboll) It takes all kinds to make a town.

Barnwell boasts two of South Carolina's most prominent political figures: Solomon Blatt, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senator Edgar Brown, who became the leader for educational television in the General Assembly.

Rodman Lemon is a long-time resident of Barnwell.

He sometimes enjoys reminiscing.

For the first 50 years of this century, Barnwell was a small country town, not unlike other country towns of this community.

It was noted for and proud of its churches and particularly noted for its politicians.

In that first 50 years, the population averaged 1,800.

We thought approximately 900 white and 900 Negro.

Now, our town is built on a circle.

Many country towns of the South are on a square, but our courthouse and famous sundial faces the circle or park in the center of town.

In the late '20s, that park-- well, around the park was the only paved area in town, and a portion of it in the summer afternoons would be roped off for children for skating.

Often at the time of a celebration, they would use that roped-off area at night for what we call street dances, with an orchestra on a porch of a neighboring building.

Later on in the '30s, Mr. C.G.

Fuller was-- he now is retired and spends part-time here and part in Miami Beach.

He was mayor of the town, and with WPA funds and the local county delegation, he constructed a recreation park on the edge of town, part of which is still being used.

But those Depression years, it was pretty good for members of the town to be able to use tennis courts and a baseball-football diamond.

We had good baseball teams.

We had a little league team at one time; actually, nearly a big league team.

A swimming pool was built there and a recreational hall.

Part of that park is still in use.

Later on in the '40s, World War II took the news spotlight, and I, being out of the town for much of the time myself, saw not too much change when I got back.

However, in the late '40s, after World War II, the changes began to come about.

But the men of this town are primarily interested in politics, hunting, and fishing.

We have been, we think, famous for politicians from the time of the Hagoods and the Allens and the Aldriches down to our present politicians.

Along about the early '30s, I believe it was, at one time this little country town had Speaker of the House Solomon Blatt, who is still Speaker; President Pro Tem of the Senate, who is still President Pro Tem; and the late Emile Harley as governor.

Those three, all from this little town, so we're noted for politicians.

(Grosboll) And how does Allendale's Mayor Boyles feel about people in a small town?

I believe, sir, that you should love people.

And loving people, as the old saying goes, is to know them.

And in small towns we certainly get to know each other.

I'm just three minutes at the most from my office.

I usually stop at the post office, and I can walk in, and I know 97% of the people in there.

When you're that close to people, you get to know them, and you usually can work together with them real well.

So my idea is, when we love people, we usually know them, and we can all cooperate real well when this situation does exist.

(Grosboll) In Williston in Barnwell County is the Edisto Experiment Station, established in 1937.

Here, men worked to improve the growth and development of farm produce.

In nearby Blackville, produce auctions are held.

Farmers bring their cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes to these auctions, and they are sold very much the same way as our famed auctioneers conduct tobacco leaf sales.

How does a small town go about developing its potential and looking to the future?

The chairman of the Allendale Development Commission, F.E.

Gibson Jr., explains.

Since the Civil War, we've been a farming community.

We're still a farming community and probably will always be primarily farming.

However, since the World War Number Two, the farmers have gone to mechanization.

By their going to mechanization, it's turned the tide with our labor.

We have lost population from 1940 until 1950, and we lost population from 1950 until 1960.

The people of Allendale County realized that something had to be done, that we couldn't afford to lose population when we only had a little over 13,000 in 1940.

In 1960, our population dropped to a little over 11,000.

Therefore, a group of people in Allendale banded together, formed a development board, and we started working on industry.

About 1950, we were fortunate to get a needle plant.

This was the first break we had in getting industry to put these people to work that had lost their jobs on the farms.

I might say, at this time, our farms are the largest per acre average in South Carolina.

Therefore, I think you can realize that the mechanization was necessary and is necessary and will continue to be necessary in order for our farmers to succeed.

Therefore, it made it doubly necessary for us to go out and look for industry.

After this board was formed, we appointed an executive committee, and I happened to be chairman of this committee.

It took us 10 years, after getting the first plant in Allendale, to get our second plant.

We were fortunate to get a plant from Philadelphia, a woolen plant, which was a scouring operation.

It took us four years to get another plant, and you can see this plant in the background, Kenlon Mills, which is a division of Collins Aikman.

We were fortunate to get our Thomas & Howard company to move into the, into our industrial area.

They employ about 100 people, and Kenlon, they employ about 250 people.

(Grosboll) How do incoming industries feel about coming into small towns?

These are the words of the vice president of Barnwell Woolen Mills, Marion Beacham.

I have been associated with this plant virtually since its start and would say that in all respects, we have found the Barnwell area a very delightful place to do business.

If you should ask the things that we find attractive, I would first have to say the hospitality and the ready welcome that was on hand for us when we first came here and continued.

Secondly, I think we found a ready, willing, and quite able labor force, and this has proven true until this day.

While we were the first, in the 10 or 11 years we've been here, we have seen many good neighbors move into the area with us.

From conversations with them, I think we find that they find this area ideally suited for an industrial plant.

(Grosboll) All told, it seems small towns can offer an enterprising person almost anything he could find in the city; in some instances, perhaps more.

Perhaps it can all be summed up in a conversation with a Barnwell resident whose forebears have lived in this part of South Carolina since antebellum days, Mr. Samuel H. Gantt.

Well, we... a right good little bit of... social life of a sort.

Didn't have televisions and radios and things then, but you'd have other kinds of gatherings and some... music in somebody's home on pianos and so forth and have social gatherings in that way.

We didn't have a church building always, from when I can first remember, and they had the services in private homes some.

This present church building is about 68 years-- about 69 years old.

And for some years, there wasn't any.

There was an old church up there, an antebellum church that was destroyed and stood on the same spot apart from that present building.

But for some years after it, there wasn't any church building.

They had services in private homes.

Then they built this about 69 years ago.

I suppose you might regard me as a descendant of some of the fairly early ones.

My great-grandfather on one side made a settlement here a good while before the War Between the States.

Of course, that was not the first occupation of this place.

There were previous occupations... about the Revolution or maybe before that, but that was a fairly early settlement here.

(Grosboll) Does it take a special person to enjoy living in a small town?

I think that many people are happy anywhere they go, but in a town like Allendale, there are many advantages.

At the same time, we are near enough to larger metropolitan areas that if we need to go out of this city, we can find things that you find in cities very close.

I suppose some people may think that would be true.

I don't find it true in Barnwell because of the Savannah River Plant and the Deering Milliken plant and Shuron Continental and Chill-Chest.

We have people here from all over the United States who have lived in large cities.

They find that Barnwell, and I'm sure this goes for other communities our size, 5,000, 6,000, they find that livability in the small town far exceeds that of some of our larger cities here in South Carolina, for example.

(Grosboll) And Mr. Gantt, why do you stay?

Why do I?

Well... a little bit from sentiment, I suppose.

I kind of hate to leave the old place.

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