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://passingbyphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/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.
Two towers make up the cable-stayed suspension support of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that connects Charleston and Mount Pleasant, SC. This is the tower closest to Charleston, seen from Magnolia Cemetery with a sky filled with white fluffy clouds.
In 1825 George Washington Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, became the ninth owner of the land that he named Grove Plantation. Three years later he built Grove House. These images are the front of the house, taken from the extensive tree lined lawn from the left, center, and right.
Grove House at Grove Plantation
As you move away from the building the massive Live Oaks close in quickly, giving a feeling of seclusion. The second floor porch that runs the full width of the house is very inviting and the wide overhang would have helped keep the home cooler during the South Carolina summers.
Grove House at Grove Plantation
The house has survived numerous hurricanes and the wrath of the Civil War, during which many similar estates were torched.
Like many plantation homes in the south the front of Grove House faces the water where all traffic would have originated when the house was built in 1828. This is a view of the back of the plantation house, taken from the Live Oak lined drive.
Grove House – rear
The pond where I photographed the water lilies in yesterday’s post sits in the circular turn of this drive, just in front of the ground floor entry arches.
Grove House Rear Entry
Below are the Live Oaks lining the driveway leading away from the back of the house.
Live Oaks Leading Away from Grove House
Today Grove House is home to the offices of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge.
Nature is working on reclaiming the Boynton House located in South Carolina’s Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. Managed by SC Department of Natural Resources, the front lawn is kept roughly mowed as this is a parking area for one of the managed nature trails.
Boynton House guarded by a magnificent Live Oak
Once part of a thriving cattle farm the house was abandoned ages ago, and other than the occasional mowing is being left to rot.
Boynton House
This view of one end of the house shows the vegetation encroaching on the back of the building. The other end was completely covered with vines. I was standing in a sea of poison ivy to take this image and decided I didn’t need to see the back and retreated.
Boynton House
These images were taken at the end of April and by mid-summer I expect even less of the house will be visible.
Lines created by the weathered planks in the siding, water wheel and fence of this mill go in every direction.
Leonard’s Mills
The water wheel is a work of art as well as a mechanical feat that powers a working saw.
Leonard’s Mills
Approaching the mill from the other side of the stream gives a broader view of the building’s colors and textures of the siding.
Leonard’s Mills
The Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley has a variety of exhibits intended “to preserve, celebrate and educate people about the sustainable forest culture of Maine.”
