PULL UP A CHAIR
Grab a seat. It's been a quiet couple of weeks by Florence standards, but a few things happened that are worth sitting down for. On Stokes Road, a piece of Florence's history that most residents have driven past without knowing finally got its marker. On North Douglas Street, ground that was empty a few months ago is becoming ten small homes for families who need them. And in the comments section of our own Facebook page, half the city had a lot to say about a traffic light. Let's get into it.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
A few highlights from around Florence this week, for anyone who missed the full page:
- FMU's Premier Pledge program continues opening doors for South Carolina students — a tuition-access initiative worth knowing about if college is on the horizon for your family.
- FDTC named a new Dean of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Dr. Cynthia Gray, as the college continues growing its healthcare training programs.
- The city hosted a walk-in hiring event on September 24, open to anyone job-hunting in Florence right now.
- Opportunity SC 2026 brought community development leaders from across the state to Florence.
Want the full rundown? This Week in Florence has everything → This Week in Florence
FLORENCE STORIES
A marker, a school, and the women who kept going after it closed
We told you back in Edition 8 that this story was coming, timed to the September 15 dedication. It happened as planned, drawing coverage from WPDE and a program that brought together city and county leaders — and now, the full story.
On September 15, a historical marker went up at 1511 Stokes Road, and for the first time, the story of the Palmetto School and the Florence County Foster Home for Negro Children has a permanent place to be told.
The Palmetto School opened around 1920, a rural school for Black children in what's now Florence School District 1. It was rebuilt with WPA materials after a fire in 1941, and by 1945 it had grown to serve more than 60 students, with its own cafeteria and a piano for music classes.
When the school closed after a district reorganization, the building didn't sit empty. In October 1953, it became the Florence County Foster Home for Colored Children, established under the leadership of Dr. Iola Jones and the Florence Council of Negro Women. They secured a 20-year lease and raised money with support from the county and the surrounding community. Women like Lubertha Myers taught the children to garden and connected them with people who could teach them trades. In 1967, the Council bought the property outright for $2,002. By the time the foster home closed in 1969, it had served more than 300 Black children.
The building kept working. It became the Bethune-Jones Career Center and School of Cosmetology in 1978, then a Head Start center under the Pee Dee Community Action Agency in 1994. For nearly a century, one small property off Stokes Road has been taking care of Florence's children in one form or another.
The dedication brought together Florence County Council Chairman Jerry W. Yarborough Jr., Florence 1 Schools board member EJ McIver, Modestine Samuel of the National Council of Negro Women's Florence chapter, Mayor Lethonia Barnes, FMU's Dr. Erica Johnson, and City Manager Scotty Davis — researched and prepared with help from Universities Studying Slavery at Francis Marion University.
It's the kind of story that was never hiding. It just needed a sign.
GOOD NEIGHBORS
Back in August, we told you Florence 1 Schools and House of Hope broke ground on Hope Village, a new community on North Douglas Street. Worth being clear about what this is: it's the second Hope Village in Florence County — the first, a 24-home community for unhoused women and children, has been running since 2021. This one is smaller and different in purpose: 10 tiny homes built specifically for Florence 1 Schools families facing homelessness, a partnership between the district and House of Hope. It's expected to open in time for the next school year. No construction update yet — early days for a project like this — but it's the kind of thing worth watching grow.
FROM THE COMMENTS
If you've ever sat at the light on the backroad between Golden Corral and Buffalo Wild Wings and felt your soul leave your body, you weren't alone. A post about intersection sensors turned into one of the liveliest threads we've seen this week:
"I just pull up beside them, and leave the line before they do."
— one commenter's solution
"People round here don't pull up far enough to trip the light."
— another neighbor agreed
"I really think that people do not realize that those lines at the front of the line closest to the traffic light will actually trigger the light to turn in your favor."
— a third chimed in
Consider this your public service announcement: pull up to the line, Florence.
That's the porch for this week. Come back and sit a while in two weeks.
Florence Today | HelloFlorenceSC
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