News From South Carolina

According to the Post & Courier, for more than 150 years, Columbia, S.C., has been home to a massive granite quarry operating just inland from the banks of the Congaree River. Aside from the periodic blasting, the 500-ft.-deep open-pit mine has quietly become as much a part of the community as the Historic Mill District neighborhoods perched on its rim. But one day the granite will run out, and someone will have to figure out what to do with the giant hole left behind. Quarry officials say it won’t be anytime soon, but ideas are already being tossed around among community leaders about the future of the site.