South Carolina is dotted with ruins of churches and other historical buildings. Fire, at the hands of an enemy during war or by accident, was a common culprit. Sometimes they were ravaged to use building materials elsewhere.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins
The Old Sheldon Church in Beaufort County was originally built around 1750.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins
The owners of the property have recently added a fence to keep visitors out of the ruin for safety purposes and hopefully from taking souvenirs. Oddly, to me, this has become a popular spot for wedding and other portrait photographs.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins
The giant Live Oaks surrounding the property lend to the feeling of times gone by.
The Cross Keys Plantation wasn’t on our list of potential stops on our recent mid-state driving tour. However, we made a quick u-turn to check out this unexpected sight.
Cross Keys Plantation House
The property is owned by the Union County Museum but wasn’t open so I only took images from the road. The white plaque at the gable peak has the build date of 1812 along with two crossed skeleton keys.
Cross Keys Plantation House
The other end of the house has just one chimney, partly hidden by a tree.
Cross Keys Plantation House
The intricate brick work is fascinating, especially in the chimney.
Cross Keys Plantation House
The bricks varied in colors and the top several rows on the front of the house appear to be of a different era.
I’m attracted to gaudy chandeliers, not that I would want one, but the bling does draw my eye.
Joseph Manigault House Chandelier in Front Stairwell
The light from the huge Palladian window (three-sections where the center section is arched and larger than the two side sections) makes images a challenge.
Joseph Manigault House Chandelier in Front Stairwell
The cantilevered staircase (fixed to the wall with no other support) provides an elegant setting intended to impress Charleston society.
Joseph Manigault House Chandelier in Front Stairwell
This home has had a number of uses since it was built in 1803 for the Manigault family’s city residence and was nearly torn down for a gas station in 1920. It is now owned by The Charleston Museum which operates daily interpretive tours.
Joseph Manigault House Chandelier in Front Stairwell
Joseph Manigault House, Meeting Street, Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC, is known for its abundance of churches and is sometimes referred to as the “Holy City.” The spires of this trio can be seen from a bird’s eye perspective from one of the parking garage rooftops.
Three Church Spires, Charleston: Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Saint John’s Lutheran Church, Unitarian Church
The Unitarian Church is topped by a rooster weather vane, which had a summer storm to observe the afternoon I was there.
Many of the large churches in historic Charleston, SC, are difficult to photograph in their entirety due to the closeness of their neighbors. Turns out that the tops of parking garages provide some neat views that get around this dilemma.
Built in 1905, The Gibbes Museum of Art refers to the dome that crowns the Rotunda Gallery as “Tiffany Era.” It seems the sought after Tiffany markings are not to be found based on the museum’s news articles about a recent renovation that included cleaning the dome.
The Dome, The Gibbes Museum of Art, Rotunda Gallery
I took the image above standing on the big fleur-de-lis in this next image and looking up. I wanted to lay on the floor but thought it might be frowned on.
The floor is tile, that was (gasp!) covered in brown linoleum along with the beautiful woodwork being painted white sometime in the 1950s or early 1960.
Rotunda Gallery
This view out the huge windows in the front shows a hint of the neighboring Circular Church, another architectural beauty in Charleston.
I visited another of South Carolina’s Methodist campgrounds last week. It turns out there are quite a few still operating around the area.
It is immediately obvious that Cypress Methodist Campground is different from Indian Fields Methodist Campground as the “tents” are in a rectangle rather than a circular arrangement and it feels less unified.
Cypress Methodist Campground
This section in the first corner is dominated by a giant Live Oak tree dripping with Spanish Moss.
Some other differences that became apparent as I wandered the grounds were the newer metal roofs on many of the camps, locks on the doors as the result of vandalism, and the lack of front porches on most of the cabins.
Cypress Methodist Campground
Another difference is that the associated church building and a small grave yard are on the same property.
The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was open the day I discovered it and as I stepped inside I was somewhat overcome by the size. Many of Charleston’s churches welcome visitors to view their interiors, often with knowledgeable guides on hand, as well as for spiritual reasons.
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
I saw no one here, and saw no welcome sign, either. The interior is an amazing work of art and craftsmanship. I took a few images and went on my way.
On a trip into Charleston last month I walked down a section of Broad Street that I had somehow missed before and discovered the massive Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. The first cornerstone for a church on this spot was laid in 1850 and an 1100 seat cathedral was consecrated in 1854. Six years later it burned to the ground in The Great Charleston Fire of 1861. Decades of fundraising culminated in the present day Gothic building being started in 1890.
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
I was delighted to find that the structure is Connecticut tool-chiseled brownstone. In Connecticut, Ted and I lived only a few of miles from the now defunct Portland Brownstone Quarry. This stone was used all over the US starting in the late 1700s, reaching the peak of its popularity in the mid 1890s. It is most famous as the namesake of the New York City and Boston “Brownstones.”
Zoom in on any one of these images to see the detail of the tooling. I need to go back to capture some of the material detail.
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
The building is impressive in its size, 200 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 167 feet to the tall. There was supposed to be a spire, but lack of funding kept that from being completed.
A circle of 99 rustic numbered “camps” form the Indian Fields Methodist Campground on a ten acre (four hectare) site in St. George, South Carolina. Indian Fields was built in 1848 and has been a site for religious gatherings continuously since then.
This site is used just one week a year; there is electricity and running indoor indoor to sinks only. Privies, also numbered, are out back, across the road.
ref=”https://passyingbyphoto.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/esj1516-edit.jpg”> Indian Fields Methodist Campground[/caPine trees stand straight, towering above the camps, sentinels to the passage of time. The buildings have no ornamentation and the rusting metal roofs were the only sign of color not provided by nature.
Indian Fields Methodist Campground
This view from the porch of camp #25 shows how meager the buildings are. Even if their doors were closed there were numerous other openings into the interiors. I kept expecting to get startled by a bird or other creature that had taken up residence, but saw nothing.
Indian Fields Methodist Campground
This last view is from outside the circle where the cooking quarters all face outward to the circular road. The kitchens have been modified more than other parts of the camps over time with sinks, stoves, and storage compartments. I imagine that food is a big part of the social aspect of the annual gathering.
Indian Fields Methodist Campground
Taken 7/8/2018, Sony Alpha-6500, processed to have an old postcard look.
9/2/18 Note: I edited this post last evening to change 100 to 99 in the first sentence after Ted mentioned my error. I foolishly used the WP interface on my iPad and the post got all scrambled up and the last two images didn’t display. My apologies for presenting a mess.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins
