We’re continuing the church theme this week with this beautiful white building sent in by a reader. Where is it? What can you tell us about it? Send your guess to feedback@statehousereport.com — and remember to include your name, home city and contact information.
Last week’s mystery, “Orange and blue,” was pretty easy for lots of regular Mystery Photo sleuths. It showed the tall steeple at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church on King Street in Charleston.
Congrats to these readers who identified it: Faith Line of Anderson; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Barry Wingard and Jacie Godfrey, both of Florence; Bill Segars and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; Elizabeth Jones and Jay Altman, both of Columbia; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Tom Jacobsen of Sitka, Alaska; Curtis Joyner of Charleston; Will Williams of Aiken; and Kevin Mertens of Greenville.
Peel provided some context: Today’s mystery photo is of the clock and bell tower of St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church, just below (but not visible in the photo) the 297-foot-tall steeple. At the time of its construction, the church was the tallest building in South Carolina. It remained the tallest building in the state until it was surpassed by the “Tower at 1301 Gervais,” a high-rise office building in Columbia, S.C. Even today, the church’s steeple remains the tallest spire in Charleston. According to an article in the SC Picture Project here, “In 1965 St. Matthew’s suffered a devastating fire that destroyed the steeple, sending it ‘crashing spectacularly into King Street.’ The church was quickly rebuilt, including the spire, though a section of the spire remains where it landed as a reminder of the event.”
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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