Here’s a grand-looking house. Where is it and, more importantly, why might it be important historically? Send your best 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 Dec. 6 image, “What could this be?” was sent in by Florence reader Barry Wingard. It shows an old library in Society Hill. The Society Hill Library Society got started in 1822 after 12 men paid $20 each to buy books for a library.
Few people guessed this week, so hats off to those who identified it: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Philip Cromer of Beaufort; and Vic Carpenter of Lugoff.
Graf shared some information according to scpictureproject.org: “This humble building was erected as the Society Hill Library Society around 1826. The society traces its roots to Saint David’s Society, organized in the Pee Dee in 1777. At that time the lands that now make up Chesterfield, Darlington and Marlboro counties comprised Saint David’s Parish. The Saint David’s Society was created by local planters who wished to emphasize education within the parish….
“In 1826 the library was operating on a Main Street property donated by John D. Witherspoon. It was one of the first public libraries in the state, and eventually as many as 2,000 volumes were kept in this small building. At some point the library building was moved to its current site near Town Hall. It was restored in 1971 by the Dogwood Garden Club and the Society Hill Township and subsequently reopened.”
- 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.
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