SPRINGFIELD, South Carolina — Festival Trail Road in downtown Springfield is a street lined with some of the oldest buildings in town.
Among these buildings is Carson's Collectibles built in 1920.
Owner Victor Carson says he and his wife bought the building eight years ago in an effort to preserve a piece of history after seeing others nearby were being demolished.
“I was like, you know what, let’s do an antique store. It’s something we both enjoy. We like it and I can work on the building. We can both go and find things for the store, and it’s worked out really well," said Carson.
He also owns Peddler's Pavilion a couple doors down.
Carson has lived in Springfield for 16 years. He says the town was once a hub for famers and even had general stores, a car dealership, and multiple gas stations.
But now the town has fallen quiet.
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“The town has been as many as 1,000 people. We’re currently down to about 540 so it’s a small town life," he said.
He says this shift began after the Southern Railway that once ran through Springfield ceased operations.
The railway also ran through the Orangeburg County towns of Branchville and Rowesville.
Carson refers to Springfield as a weekend town and with the frog jump on Saturday, this weekend is expected to be one of the busiest for business.
“It really helps. It brings a lot of people to town. Gets a lot of people seeing the business because people say oh I didn’t realize you were here and stuff like that.”