Disgusta - grit and decay in Augusta, GA

[LSyd]

the other side of the city of the Masters. sadly no part of the city is immune; every part of the city seems to have a pocket of decay. pics broken down by neighborhood as best as i can hash their place out

Gordon highway has a lot of grit near it. industrial areas and cheap motels and Regency Mall - a dead mall

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Bethlehem/South Augusta
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near downtown
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downtown
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Harrisburg
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East Boundary
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Olde Towne
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[Expat]

I won't lie. This is depressing. Powerful photographs, thanks for showing us.

[llamaorama]

wow rough

What's this part of town's story?

[mr.John]

they must be still suffering from the civil war

[stepper77]

That was disturbing, but, fascinating. Thanks!

[Centropolis]

I know grit porn has fallen out of fashion on this site, but I'm more interestied compelling scenes and ambiance of all kinds. That's some good stuff. Shoot a Drug Dealer, Save a Child (I wouldn't recommend it).

I had no idea there was this intensity of blight in Augusta. Some decent, properly old southern bones too, I'm partial to the tin roofs. I can almost feel the barely cool, tiny raindrops hitting my forehead under some of that sky.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

I know grit porn has fallen out of fashion on this site, but I'm more interestied compelling scenes and ambiance of all kinds. That's some good stuff. Shoot a Drug Dealer, Save a Child (I wouldn't recommend it).

I had no idea there was this intensity of blight in Augusta. Some decent bones too, I'm partial to the tin roofs.

Blight is easy to find no matter where you are in the South, even in the shiny new places like Charlotte, but especially in the older places like Augusta. There's something special about Southern grit too... Maybe it's the way that nature reclaims so quickly. It's hotter, and for longer, and the plant life forgets its place more quickly it seems.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Blight is easy to find no matter where you are in the South, even in the shiny new places like Charlotte, but especially in the older places like Augusta. There's something special about Southern grit too... Maybe it's the way that nature reclaims so quickly. It's hotter, and for longer, and the plant life forgets its place more quickly it seems.

That was another observation of mine - the plant life. I remember driving down into South Carolina where the Kudzu was growing over the road...you never see that around St. Louis, which I guess we are the northern limit of that pestilence. It never climbs out of the lowest points of the Mississippi River valley into the neighborhoods or countryside.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

That was another observation of mine - the plant life. I remember driving down into South Carolina where the Kudzu was growing over the road...you never see that around St. Louis, which I guess we are the northern limit of that pestilence. It never climbs out of the lowest points of the Mississippi River valley into the neighborhoods, though.

Kudzu is the vine of Satan. It can grow up to a foot a day in optimal conditions. In my part of the South, you'll sometimes find abandoned cemeteries that have been completely swallowed up by it. There was a story in the local paper not too long ago where a landowner discovered an historically significant -- locally significant at any rate -- slave cemetery completely buried in kudzu and trees. That cemetery has since been restored, but it's a constant battle to keep it free of the kudzu.

[LSyd]

thanks for the replies.

Originally Posted by llamaorama

wow rough

What's this part of town's story?

a lot of neighborhoods suffer from poverty, capital flight, highways, and a cross exchange of illegal liquor sales which in turn cover/invite drugs and prostitution. in several of these areas (Olde Town and Harrisburg especially) you can go from a block of $25-50,000 houses and one block over they're $250,000 houses.

more specifically by neighborhood:

Olde Town - my neighborhood; according to my neighborhood association things were a lot worse 3-5 years ago with open drug dealing and prostitution. then a cross section of residents came together and started taking back the neighborhood. there's still some spotty area, mostly near East Boundary. pic #65, Kahrs Groery is close to my place; it's a 150ish year old former hotel/grocery that's been vacant 30 years. it's ripe for redevelopment

East Boundary - several housing projects/nearby heavy industry and high crime areas.

Harrisburg - the last two textile mills operating in Augusta, already downsized over the decades, closed in 2006, due to economic decline and the Graniteville mill disaster in nearby Aiken, South Carolina, when a train derailed and a toxic spill killed several people.

Gordon Highway - Regency Mall lost business to Augusta Mall and lost more due to crime. low rent hotels where sex offenders can live also drives away business.

Bethlehem/South Augusa - heavy industry/loss of industry.

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[diskojoe]

damn...........

[ColDayMan]

Now THAT was the real!

[xzmattzx]

Some of the grit isn't that bad. That one little industrial building in and of itself isn't too bad. I don't know who would put a daycare center there, though. It must feel like a prison.

[subterranean]

"The KKK took my baby away" - Joey Ramone

[Soku39]

Hmm, this makes my work look optimistic and care free. Anyway cool tour, I wouldn't really have considered this to be a side of Augusta, GA. 'Learn something new every day.

[Thundertubs]

^^^ [Referencing the day care two posts up] Yea, the proprietors should have maybe thought on that name a little more...

Gnarly tour. Interesting stuff.

[Segun]

This is the home of the "Party Like a Rockstar" boys. I don't even remember the name of the group.

T-T-T-Totally duuuuuuuuude!!!

Weary pics. How many smiles did you see?

[flar]

It's unfortunate that homes and buildings are just thrown away and left to rot. "Newer is better" I guess.

[LSyd]

thanks for the replies

Originally Posted by Soku39

Hmm, this makes my work look optimistic and care free. Anyway cool tour, I wouldn't really have considered this to be a side of Augusta, GA. 'Learn something new every day.

Originally Posted by Segun

This is the home of the "Party Like a Rockstar" boys. I don't even remember the name of the group.

T-T-T-Totally duuuuuuuuude!!!

Weary pics. How many smiles did you see?

not many. we suck. but there were more in the other Augusta thread.

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[yerfdog]

Wow, a cornucopia of decay there. Good thread.