Here’s another big brick building with a skinny tower. What and where is it? Send us your guess of what this photo shows – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s “Tall and skinny” photo, sent in by reader Bill Segars of Hartsville, looks remarkably similar to the Georgetown Rice Museum featured in a July issue. But this photo shows a clock tower in Winnsboro.
Reader Allan Peel shares that the “ground floor of the building once served as Winnsboro’s public market and is now used as a meeting space for a variety of organizations while the upper floor is home to the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce. The current building and tower dates back to 1875 when it was built to replace a public market that was originally established in 1785.
“The clockworks were built in 1837 from parts that originated in Alsace, France. In 1875, it became necessary to repair the clock tower and John D. Smart (1842 – 1908), an African-American carpenter from Winnsboro, did the repair and the present tower was erected to hold the clockworks. It has run continuously for more than 185 years, and is therefore considered to be the longest, continuously running town clock in the United States. “
Others who correctly identified the old clock tower were: John Hart, Rusty Reed and Elizabeth Jones, all of Columbia; Steve Willis and Cynthia Craig, both of Lancaster; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Montez Martin Jr. of Charleston; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Frank Bouknight of Summerville; Pat Keadle of Wagener; Michael Webb and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; and Rose Johnson.
>> Send us a mystery picture. 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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