This might be a tough one. It’s a picture from the archives, but what and where is it? Send your best guess of what it is to feedback@statehousereport.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our May 29 image, “The big cross might be a hint,” shows the Church of the Holy Cross in Stateburg. In our book, what’s notable about the building is that it is reportedly the oldest rammed earth building in the state. However, as outlined below, there’s other neat stuff about the church.
Congratulations to the sleuths who correctly identified the church: Dale Rhodes of Richmond, Va.; Mary Greene, Jay Altman and Susan James, all of Columbia; Katherine D. Beard and Robert Ariail, both of Camden; Bill Segars and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; Gary Pope Jr. of Spartanburg; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Faith Line of Anderson; Jacie Godfrey of Florence; and John Wilde of Greenwood.
Greene pointed out the church’s cemetery was the final resting place of Joel Poinsett. Beard shared that the church, designed by Edward C. Jones, was built in 1850-52 with rammed earth construction of Gothic Revival styling.
Segars said the church’s significance “is that it’s a Chapel of Ease, established in 1788, for the St. Mark’s Parish, an Anglican Parish established in 1757. This building was completed for services on July 14, 1852. The unique feature of this building is that its construction method is pise de terre, or rammed earth. In other words its exterior load bearing walls are built of dirt, three-feet thick.
“The unique thing about this photo is that it must have been taken before 2008. The signage on the door and in the yard indicate that this beautiful building is non-usable due to structural issues, unsafe. Between August of 2008 and February of 2010, $2.3 million were spent restoring this edifice that cost $11,358.74 when it was completed in 1852. When Holy Cross was reconsecrated on Feb. 14, 2010, it stands as a true testimony that historical preservation is alive and well in the Bible Belt of South Carolina.”
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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