The Mystery Photo above might be one of the hardest we’ve ever published. What does it show and where (your hint) in Charleston is it? Send your guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our Oct. 19 mystery was a creepy-looking place, which is good for this time of year. The photo showed the ruins of the St. Helena Parish Chapel of Ease just down the road from the Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
Hats off to several alert readers for identifying the old chapel: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Steve Willis of Lancaster; Don Clark and Bill Segars of Hartsville, David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Charles Davis of Aiken; and Philip Cromer of Beaufort.
Graf provided more context from the Heritage Library at heritagelib.org: “When the Anglican Church in colonial South Carolina authorized the establishment of Chapels of Ease in St Luke’s and St. Helena’s Parishes, both in Beaufort County, they were following what had been for centuries a common practice in Great Britain. Chapels of Ease were intended to provide for the ease and comfort of parishioners living some distance from the main parish church.
“St. Helena’s Chapel of Ease was built in the 1740s to accommodate the planters who lived on St. Helena’s Island, which was some distance from the parish church in the town of Beaufort. The chapel, constructed of tabby and brick, is now in ruins…four thick walls remain with no roof or flooring…having been damaged in a forest fire on February 22, 1886. Tabby is a highly-textured cement made of oyster shells, lime, and sand, and its whiteness gave the chapel the nickname ‘White Church.’”
Segars wrote to remind us of a good point when visiting old church ruins: “Please remind your reader of a problem that exist with associating “haunted and spooky” with old buildings and structures in SC: Everyone may enjoy a good spooky story, particularly during the Halloween season. If you choose to visit this site or any other church or burial ground, please remember that these are sacred, reverent places. You are a guest here, with or without permission; please do not deface or vandalize any part of these properties. These juvenile acts are a costly problem for the people that love and hold these sites dear.”
Send us a mystery: 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.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!