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YEMASSEE -- An aluminum clamp light plugged into an extension cord hangs from the ceiling in front of a portable toilet. Paint curls up from wood like whitecaps on rough seas. Plywood sheets cover windows.
Visitors can't miss the old train depot in the center of downtown Yemassee. There are a few surrounding shops and businesses, but the station and the railroad tracks have a commanding spot in this hamlet.
Amtrak still makes four stops here daily. Last year, 13,500 passengers boarded or got off in Yemassee. Yet, to a stranger, the landscape might seem like the middle of nowhere.
In many ways, it is. Yemassee, about 60 miles southwest of Charleston, is dwarfed by thousands of acres of surrounding wilderness. Several privately owned plantations dating back centuries still exist, a number now managed as hunting and fishing retreats.
Yemassee was once a bustling railroad town with hotels and restaurants, people on the move. The town still projects a strong sense of place and pride.
Its Southern charm quickly emerges where locals gather, such as Fletcher's Finds, an antiques store and popular lunch spot near the depot. "We're not big but we have a big heart," Mayor J.L. Goodwin says.
Yemassee has ambitions, too.
The train station, always a modest structure, has come to represent collective hopes and fears. It is the town's most prominent symbol of life and energy, as well as faded glory. In its current state, the building portends the slipping away of another small town.
A group of citizens is on course to change that, and the focal point is the station.
"Our major goal is that depot," says Paula Flowers, president of the nonprofit Yemassee Revitalization Corp. and owner of Fletcher's
Finds. "We want to restore it to what Yemassee used to be -- a vibrant town. Now, downtown is an eyesore. We've got to take care of it."
Grass-roots campaign
The nonprofit was formed in 2008 by people concerned about the town's future. The group's primary goal is striking an economic spark through renovation of aging buildings.
To that end, the revitalization corporation was able to buy the depot from CSX Corp. for $1 and surrounding property for $7,500 for the town of Yemassee. That has put the...