Union SC

Quick trip yesterday over to Union, SC which is about an hour east of here to check out the downtown with my wife Patrice and her mom. So here is my first "QuickTake" post, which will be initial opinions and some quick edits of pictures.

The Coca-cola "ghost sign" caught my eye in an alley off of the main street. Even though faded and hard to read, I still prefer original "ghost signs" to well intended efforts to restore them which destroys the original work.  One of my favorite South Carolina artists, Jim Harrison (the artist, not the writer) got his start painting Coca-Cola Sign like these.

I'm all for murals and street art, but there are plenty of walls you can paint on without erasing a piece of your history!  Union has a cool train mural that is in desperate need of some loving care now. 

They also have a NS (Ex-Southern) depot which appears to be used by their MOW crews still.  Wouldn't it make a great spot for a train museum a block off of mainstreet!

Nice little downtown but really dead on a Saturday afternoon. I don't think one business was open. Even the local museum which said open until 4pm, was locked at 3:45. Good reason for a trip back someday soon. Many of the businesses downtown in Union are for sale or the buildings are at least empty. The old mill still stands on the edge of town, now for sale, empty of the workers that used to shop downtown after the whistle blew on Saturday afternoon.

Union is the home of the Bantams of USC-Union and of course it is summer break, and the Walmart's parking lot is full outside of downtown. I hope the town can find a way to attract those people back to the street on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in June.