Town file
Modoc, South Carolina
Modoc, South Carolina (McCormick County, South Carolina) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 228, "Murder At Scary Bridge" (17 June 2021). Modoc, South Carolina, is a community of 218 people in McCormick County, in the western corner of the state on the Georgia border, about half an hour from Augusta.
- Town
- Modoc
- County
- McCormick County
- State
- South Carolina
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 228
- Approximate location
- 33.721, -82.217
Episode 228 / 17 June 2021 / 148 min / full
Murder At Scary Bridge
"Modoc, South Carolina, in McCormick County, western South Carolina right on the Georgia border, about half an hour from Augusta, Georgia" about 0:08:11
The case: Murder of Melanie Richie (July 1994). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 218
- Median age
- 58.3
- Median household income
- $72,000, almost $73,000
- Median home value
- $292,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- $700 a month
- Cost of living
- 104
- Religious
- 39.3%
- Property crime
- ▲ slightly high, a little above average
- Violent crime
- ▼ just under the national average
History, in brief
- A disastrous fire destroyed most of the business district on February 27, 1910. about 0:09:07
- The town rebuilt quickly in brick rather than wood, put up an opera hall, and its Main Street buildings have stood since about 1910. about 0:09:25
- On Main near the corner of Clayton Street stood the Chero Cola Bottling Company. about 0:09:55
- Claude Hatcher, a pharmacist from Columbus, Georgia, made a ginger ale called Royal Crown in 1905, went into business as Union Bottleworks in 1910 and began making a cherry cola called Chero Cola. about 0:10:25
- Coca-Cola claimed trademark infringement on the word cola, so Chero Cola dropped cola from its name, lost market share and was discontinued in the twenties. about 0:10:53
- Hatcher also made a fruit-flavoured soda called Nehi and renamed the company the Nehi Corporation, then returned to cola with Royal Crown Cola, which became RC Cola. about 0:11:22
The reviews read out
2 stars
"The town has only one gas station, one hair salon and a post office; a grocery store is a thirty-minute drive away, and the firework stand closed years ago for lack of customers."about 0:14:27
3 stars
"The reviewer does not know of any homeless people wandering the neighbourhood, and says parents and neighbours who graduated college and have successful jobs work twenty to thirty minutes from home."about 0:15:16
5 stars
"Had a great time; tailgating and the pit area cost a little more, but the reviewer really enjoyed the race."about 0:23:27
4 stars
"A really great place to see dirt racing with good ticket prices; bring something to sit on because the steel bleachers are rough, a small cooler is allowed but no glass bottles, the concession stand is there, and lines are long and a little pricey."about 0:23:58
4 stars
"A great race track, but so much dirt flies that the reviewer's eyes were full of it after a few laps of super late models and they wished there was less dust."about 0:25:05
1 star
"Not worth the money; all you see is a dust race and the track needs to be redone."about 0:25:21
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Grovetown, Georgia19 miles
- Townville, South Carolina70 miles
- Eatonton, Georgia73 miles
- Milledgeville, Georgia73 miles
- Easley, South Carolina79 miles
- Rutledge, Georgia80 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.