For nearly a century Bright Leaf tobacco was the king crop in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, and the town of Mullins was the state's major tobacco market. Since 1997 the tobacco allotment has been cut in half, textile manufacturers have moved away and Mullins, a town of 5,000, has lost more than 1200 jobs. The Last Auction explores how this small rural town is struggling to reinvent itself after the crippling loss of its economic base.

The documentary interweaves the history of Mullins with stories of townspeople, farmers and high school students in Mullins today, and the prospects they face in the future. Although The Last Auction is the story of a small South Carolina town, the issues it addresses - agricultural mechanization, rural unemployment, exodus of youth from small towns, the legacy of racial segregation, loss of manufacturing jobs, and the growing Hispanic population - are of national significance.

Wednesday, 7/18/07 from 4:30-5:30 a.m. ET