Usually, we ask you where something is. This time, we’ll tell you it is in South Carolina, but won’t tell you what it is. Do you know? (For bonus points, you can tell us where it’s located in South Carolina.) Send your best guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com and make sure to include your name and hometown. If possible, write “Mystery Photo” in the subject line.
In the last issue, we featured a photo taken by Andy Brack of Middleburg Plantation near Huger in rural Berkeley County. Hats off to Philip Cromer of Beaufort, Charles Lesser of Columbia and George Graf of Palmyra, Va., for identifying the site.
Cromer wrote that the plantation house, which is the oldest wooden building in the state, was built in the late 1600s by his wife’s ancestor, Benjamin Simons. Graf provided other information on the Cooper River plantation:
“Middleburg Plantation was built by Benjamin Simons in 1697 and is the oldest wooden frame house in South Carolina. It was named for the town of Middleburg of the Zeeland Province in the Netherlands. At one time, the home was the center of a profitable rice plantation of 5000 acres. Simons was one of a group of Huguenots that settled in the area after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes prohibiting free worship in France. In October 1685, Louis XIV renounced the Edict and declared Protestantism illegal with the Edict of Fontainebleau. This act, commonly called the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had very damaging results for France. While the wars of religion did not re-ignite, as many as 400,000 Protestants chose to leave France, most moving to Great Britain, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, Switzerland and the new French colonies in North America.”
- If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.comand mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
NOTE: Comments to this page won’t be approved until March 24 to give everyone a chance to guess without being influenced by someone else’s answer. If you want to guess, you can either send an email to the above address or comment in the box (in either case, make sure to include your name and hometown).
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Cotton Gin
Mr. Clayton. You’re right. However, i’m not going to post the comment til next week so other people can guess. which town are you from so I can tip my hat to you next week.