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.
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.
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.
Elizabeth Street is the main entrance of the Aiken-Rhett House , making it appear more modest than it is. Many Charleston streets have the houses arranged this way, with the narrow part of the house facing the street. This was done to maximize space, not reduce taxes as the myth is often told.
This house is a little unusual as it sits at an intersection so there is no house immediately to the right and that it encompasses a “townhouse complex” that includes several outbuildings which indicate the original owner’s wealth. The orange color is also not the norm.
Aiken-Rhett House
Wide piazzas on the first two main levels of the house run the length of the building. Below is the first level, with one of the enormous windows open, which serves as a door from the drawing room onto the piazza. Manipulating the breeze was essential to comfort during Charleston’s humid summers.
Aiken-Rhett House first floor piazza
Large windows with shutters were used throughout the buildings, including this one that housed the kitchen, laundry, and slave quarters.
Aiken-Rhett House Property, domestic services building with slave quarters
The property, encompassing just over one half acre per Charleston County records, runs all the way from Judith Street on the piazza side of the house to Ann Street.
A privy stood in each back corner of the property. The photo below was taken from inside one of these little buildings.
Aiken-Rhett House property from rear privy
At one time the entrance from Ann Street was lined with a row of Live Oaks, making a stately entrance through a gate for the horse drawn carriages. Horses were stabled along with their carriages in the building on the right below. Additional slave quarters were overhead.
Aiken-Rhett House, domestic building on left, rear of the main house, stable and carriages on the right
The Aiken-Rhett House is a historic museum in downtown Charleston, SC. Last renovated in the 1850s the house is full of well crafted details, many you have to crane your neck to see. The back stairwell is crowned by a ceiling medallion three flours up.
Aiken-Rhett House
Most of the rooms are big, with high ceilings. This drawing room sported one of many large chandeliers in the house. The gigantic mirror and its gilding would help reflect the light into the room.
Aiken-Rhett House
This metal chandelier had a simpler ceiling medallion. but the room was well decorated with crown molding and carved woodwork.
Aiken-Rhett House
Ringed by these serious faces, this light fixture was never upgraded from gas fuel, even though the house was occupied by Aiken descendants into the 1970s.
Aiken-Rhett House
Light was enhanced in the home’s art gallery with a skylight that had its own ceiling decorations.
Aiken-Rhett House
The four sides of the skylight have windows to capture light indirectly, protecting the art work. This image taken out a window on the second floor shows the skylight from the outside.
