Mobile Home Sales in Pineville, SC

FORT MILL, S.C. — Rock Hill-Pineville Road sits right on the North and South Carolina line.

On the North Carolina side, engineers say it's a five-lane road.

But in South Carolina, people who live nearby call it a two-lane "nightmare."

"For me and some of my neighbors here, it’s less than a quarter of a mile and takes 20 minutes to get that far," Torrie White, a resident, said. "So, it’s absolutely, extremely frustrating.”

Ilona Stevens is the manager at State Line Beverage Warehouse on the South Carolina side.

She said York County gained ownership of part of their land years ago to widen the road, also known as Highway 51.

"So many potholes and everything else that (customers are) afraid that they’re going to take out their tires," Stevens said, "We’ve had more than enough people complain to us and we don’t even own it."

Patrick Hamilton, the assistant York County engineer, said the road repair and widening project has been more than 10 years in the making with money from the area's penny sales tax already approved.

He said the size of the project and the amount of land the county had to acquire extended the timeline with many businesses involved.

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"There's about 100 parcels or pieces of property that we had to acquire property from," Hamilton said. "A large majority of these properties were commercial properties, so we're not dealing with a regular citizen homeowner... It takes time to go through that acquisition process with those corporations... and we're not a priority for them."

Preparing utility providers for the change was also a challenge, but now, he said they're nearing construction with the project set to be up for bid in June.

Once completed, part of Highway 21 and Highway 51 to the North Carolina line will be widened into five lanes.

"I know Highway 51 is in terrible shape. I get emails about it weekly," Hamilton said. "However, it does take time in order to get all of it built.”

People who live in the area are just hopeful change comes soon.

"Who knows if it’s going to be 10 more years, but if they do that, it’ll make it a heck of a lot better," White said.

The county said those repairs could begin as early as this fall and will take a few years before they're completed.

People who met Maude Callen as children remember her as the nurse with the shots.

For over 60 years she brought immunizations to churches, schools and other community gatherings in rural Berkeley County. Many of the children who lined up before her to receive those shots had been delivered by her.

Callen was a midwife and a pioneer of public health. By establishing a health clinic in a small clearing along the forest-lined S.C. Highway 45 in Pineville, Callen brought medical access to hundreds, if not thousands, of residents between 1923 and 1986.

As a Black woman, she helped expand access to medical care at a time when segregation stratified health outcomes for African Americans, especially those in rural areas.

Linda Wilson, a woman who grew up in the area and remembers Callen’s presence in the community, recalled that if people don’t have money, they didn’t have health insurance.

“You just had to thank God you didn’t have a catastrophic illness,” said Wilson. “The first time I went to a hospital was to have my first child.”

Now Wilson and others are taking part in an effort to immortalize Callen’s work.

Members of the Sumpter Free Health Clinic, a small nonprofit based in St. Stephen, bought the building that housed Callen’s now-shuttered clinic in 2017. Members of the nonprofit, including Wilson and her husband, have spent the last five years raising funds and restoring the building. It had no roof and was close to crumbling when they bought it.

A rededication ceremony Dec. 2 marked a new era for the Maude Callen Clinic with a new roof, a fresh coat of paint and exhibits about Callen’s work. Not only will it be used as a museum to preserve her legacy, but the new owners also hope to provide health classes and other outreach services from the building.

At the same time, local historian Brittany Lavelle Tulla is leading an effort to get the building included on the National Register of Historic Places, which would make it eligible for more grant-funding opportunities.

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“She was just a beacon of light here in this part of the county and throughout the state, and we want this clinic to be a beacon for her and to serve the community,” said Libba Carroll, a Sumpter Free Health Clinic member.

Carroll worked in a hospital in the early 1970s for a doctor who would sometimes call Callen in to work with his patients or take patients from her who needed hospital care.

“He would call Maude and she would come up to the office and sit and explain to the patient what was going on,” Carroll said. “She sometimes had a better understanding with them.”

Encounters with Callen, either directly or indirectly, have left a lasting impression on many. She was the subject of a photo essay by W. Eugene Smith in Life magazine in 1951. Before profiling her, Smith had gained international recognition for the photos he took as a foreign correspondent during World War II. After his essay about Callen ran, thousands of dollars of donations came pouring in. They were the catalyst that took her services from church pews and home visits to her stand-alone clinic.

Decades later, those same photos captured the eye of playwright Martin Casella. His play “Miss Maude” debuted in Houston in September and explores the unlikely friendship between Smith and Callen.

The award-winning photographer shadowed Callen for over two months, watching her train midwives, deliver babies and tend to the sick with very few supplies. A photo of her homemade incubator for babies shows that it was made from a crate lined with towels warmed by whiskey bottles filled with hot water.

One section of the essay was captioned, “Maude’s 16-hour day,” and featured her stopping to take a sip of Coke on one of her few breaks.

“She would probably be terribly embarrassed that all of this attention is being showered upon her, but it’s deserved,” said Bruce Long, the play’s producer. “Hopefully her story will inspire others to give up their lives in the manner that she gave her life and time and efforts. The world would certainly be a better place for having heard her story.′

Now, the production is eyeing a path to Broadway, and Carroll said she hopes a new burst of exposure will result in more donations for the clinic-turned-community-center.

“It has no water, it has no heating-and-air and it has no bathroom,” she said. “So we’re hoping to strike up more interest in it and we’re going to need our next generation to help because we’re all getting older.”

Carroll’s goddaughter, Rachel Orr, is one member of that generation. She studied historic preservation at the College of Charleston and got involved in the effort to save the clinic after moving to Berkeley County with her husband. She said she hopes the center can provide services to the community for years to come.

″(Callen is) an icon for the community and for women in general,” Orr said. “I just think it’s worth it to do what I can to help keep her legacy alive.”

For four months, Ruth Jenkins' family has been searching and praying for her return.

“We’re doing everything we can whether it’s in prayer, or poster, we’re doing everything we can to bring her home," said Kimberly Jenkins, the daughter-in-law of Ruth Jenkins.

Read More: 'It's a nightmare that never ends': Ruth Jenkins still missing, family concerned

Nov. 27 marked Jenkins' 78th birthday. To commemorate the day, family members gathered in Pineville at J.D. Gourdin Elementary School, where Jenkins used to teach.

“Through all of this, I still talk about her in the present sense because that is where she is, that is where she is with me," Kimberly Jenkins said.

Despite her disappearance, her loved ones reflect on her passion, her character, and her faith.

The family of missing woman Ruth Jenkins celebrated her 78th birthday in Pineville Sunday. (WCIV)

“I want to tell you Aunt Ruth is- I’m speaking in present tense- a warrior; she is a woman of prayer and of belief," said Betsy, Jenkins' niece.

The family released 78 balloons in the air to celebrate her birthday, and also to remind the community to continue searching.

And even though there were tears, the family also remains hopeful that Ruth will come back home soon.

Read More: 'Not giving up': Pineville community searching for beloved mother, substitute teacher

“I miss momma, and it hurts my heart to not see her right now, I’m not saying she’s gone, she’s not. But just not seeing her right now, it just gets me at times," said her son, Radrego Jenkins.

“And I know wherever she is, she is fighting and making sure she’s coming to see us, I know she’s coming real soon, I love you Ruth," Betsy said.

Ruth Jenkins described as standing 5 ft, 6 inches and weighing 125 pounds. She was last seen walking in the 1800 block of Highway 45 in Pineville.

Read More: Community search continues 15 days after disappearance of elderly woman

If you have any information of her disappearance, please call the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office at 843-719-4465

Her family has also set up a GoFundMe to help continue in her search.

PINEVILLE — Law enforcement officials accused an S.C. Forestry Commission employee of using incendiary devices made from cigarettes and matches to start a string of wildfires earlier this year in Berkeley County.

Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies arrested Brad Chance, 52, on March 10. The St. Stephen man is charged with three counts of willfully burning the lands of another, a felony punishable with up to five years in prison.

Arrest warrant affidavits reveal that the S.C. Forestry Commission, which is tasked with protecting and managing the state’s public and private forest resources, has been investigating more than 100 brushfires that occurred between October 2021 and February 2022.

Deputies accused Chance of starting three fires between January and February, all within a 5-mile stretch of rural land in Pineville, a small community nestled between lakes Marion and Moultrie.

Two of the fires started Jan. 14 and Feb. 3 near Tanaya Lane and S.C. Highway 45, affidavits state. The third fire happened Feb. 15 near Pilgrim Baptist Church, 1339 Colonel Maham Drive.

Chance declined to comment when reached by telephone March 14.

On Feb. 15, investigators watched video footage from the scene of the Jan. 14 fire. On the video, Chance’s blue pick-up truck was shown traveling in the area at the time the fire was reported, affidavits state.

Investigators executed a search warrant Feb. 15 at Chance’s residence. Chance admitted in an interview with investigators that the vehicle seen on the video belonged to him, affidavits state.

Inside Chance’s truck, investigators found rubber bands, six nails, a lighter, an empty box of menthol cigarettes and a couple of wooden matches, according to the affidavit.

Investigators say those same items were used to construct incendiary devices found at the scene of multiple fires, according to the affidavits.

Chance worked for the commission as a forestry technician in Berkeley and Charleston counties. He was hired for the position in February 2021, according to an agency news release. Upon his arrest, he was suspended without pay.

Chance has owned Brad’s Tree Service, a landscaping business, since 2006, according to state records. A social media post from the company March 12 said they were available for tree removal and limb-clearing services.

Chance was taken into custody following a joint investigation between the Sheriff’s Office and SCFC law enforcement agents. He was released from the Berkeley County jail March 11 after a magistrate set a $45,000 personal recognizance bond.

During the Colonial Period, education in South Carolina was solely in the hands of parents. Those with money, Whites and free Blacks, hired tutors for their young children. Skills in the trades were learned through hands-on apprenticeships. Wealthy merchants and planters sent their children to Europe or New England for higher education.

Soon after the federal and state constitutions were approved, Columbia, Charleston, and several other cities in South Carolina established pauper schools. In 1811, the S.C. Legislature passed the Free School Act, which enabled groups of parents and churches establish public schools. During Reconstruction, the state established a system of free schools under a state superintendent. By 1920, the racially divided dual system of education had been created in the state.

The Pineville Academy, established and chartered by the state in 1805, just a few years after the village was founded, disappeared with the Civil War. The population of the village was so diminished, education became something of the past. After Reconstruction, the few White families left hired live-in tutors for their children. Once the Berkeley County School System was established after 1910, Pineville’s white children attended public schools in St. Stephen.

On the other hand, Pineville’s Black community took advantage of the state’s promise of $1 per student per year and established their own schools. The early schools were Crawl Hill School, a two-room school near Crawl Branch (Creek); Prince Hill School, a two-room school affiliated with Jehovah Methodist Episcopal Church; Redeemer School, a two-room wooden structure affiliated with Redeemer Episcopal Church; Belle Isle School, just west of the entrance to Francis Marion’s tomb; and Eadytown School, west of the Eadytown Fire Station.

J. K. Gourdin School was begun in early 1924 by John Keith Gourdin of Pineville. He saw the need for a community school, so he arranged to swap some land with the Brown and Jethro Gourdine families so the school could be built on that specific location. He then gave that land for the school and assisted in the building of the first school building. Because of this, it was named “J. K. Gourdin School.”

There were no restroom facilities or running water for the school. Electricity didn’t come into this area until after 1940. The heating system consisted of a pot-belly iron stove situated in the middle of the room. Students were responsible for gathering the fuel items, such as straw, tree bark and limbs, pine-cones and the like. Furniture consisted of wooden desks that were shared by two students.

Housing was provided for teachers that lived a great distance from the school. Classroom enrollment was unlimited. One teacher taught as many as could fit into the room. The teacher taught multi-age and grade levels. The food was provided by the parents of the community. Hot lunch was served daily for three cents a plate. There was no USDA subsidy. Those who couldn’t pay ate anyway. In later years, lunches were supplemented with peanut butter, meal, flour, prunes, raisins, peas, and beans.

Books and school materials were handed down from churches and white schools within the state. These books were usually in poor condition and parents had to rent them.

The initial building was completed in 1924, and though unknown by anyone living today, this building burned in 1934, and was re-built, again with assistance of J.K. Gourdin.

During those initial school years, there was no transportation buses to and from the school. Parents and community friends rallied together to get the state to provide a bus. Samuel Rembert was its first bus driver.

Every morning was started with devotion, consisting of the Lord’s Prayer, Psalms 23, and sometimes a song. A community representative would many times come in and speak to the entire student body during Chapel time.

Extra-curricular activities were minimal, as children had to get home after school to help with the chores on the farm. Once a year, J.K. Gourdin School provided the location for a county-wide “black schools” Field Day.

In 1954, a southerly wing was added, consisting of six classrooms, restrooms, a book room, health room, teacher’s work room, a guidance counselor’s office, facilitator’s office, science storage room, and a teachers’ lounge.

In 1957, fire struck, and part of the building was destroyed. Once again, parents and community rallied together, petitioning the School Board to build a new school. A new westerly wing housed grades one through three and a cafeteria, construction beginning in 1960. 1961 brought completion to the new wing, adding 10 classrooms, a cafetorium with two restrooms, and a janitors’ storage room.

Another tragedy struck in 1998, when District Superintendent James E. Hyman recommended to the board that the school be closed because it only had 297 students. Orlando Brown organized the “Save J.K. Committee” and once again the community rallied with petitions and appeals at school board meetings. The board delayed a decision until Superintendent Hyman was replaced by Chester Floyd, who reversed the recommendation. Floyd was thanked and praised by locals, State of South Carolina’s Representative Joseph H. Jefferson, Jr., and Senator Larry Grooms, who said the closing would have destroyed the community. Principal Roberta R. White agreed that J.K. Gourdin School was a “focal point, a gathering place” for our Pineville community.

A list of school Principals, past to present, are:

1924-1928 – W. A. Outing

1928-1931 – Mozell Cain

1931-1940 – William Seymour

1940-1951 – Ansell Halback

1951-1954 – Thomas Sherman

1954-1970 – Alfred Davis

1970-1973 – Maggie Davis Sumter

1973-1982 – David Brisbon

1983-1990 – Dorie Gaillard

1990-2004 – Roberta R. White

2004-2007 – Luretha Sumpter

2007-2020 – Lorene Bradley

2020-present – Theodore Prioleau

With contributions from Cousin Warner Montgomery, written by Keith Gourdin