This week’s mystery comes to us from a loyal reader who said the building almost screams Christmas – even without the wreathes on the front of the building. Hint: It’s in the greater Lowcountry area and we expect it might be another tough one. You didn’t think you were going to get a “gimme” as a present, did you? 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 Dec. 14 mystery, “Best sleuthing skills might be needed,” wasn’t as tough as we thought it would be. It depicted Magnolia Cemetery in Greenwood, S.C. The church in the background, Mount Pisgah AME Church, apparently was helpful in the identification.
Congratulations and happy holidays to p
hoto detectives George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Bill Segars and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; Dale Rhodes of Richmond, Va.; Philip Cromer of Beaufort; and Jay Altman of Columbia.
Cromer explained how he figured out where the cemetery is located: “I noticed a tombstone had the letters “BARKS” and guessed it was Barksdale. Knowing a little about genealogy in South Carolina, I knew Barksdales lived in the Charleston area and in the Abbeville, Greenwood and Laurens areas. Googled Gothic Revival Churches in the latter areas (the picture did not look to be from the Lowcountry) and found what looked very much like the Mystery Photo church.”
Segars shared some information about the church: “Pisgah was designed and built by a local brick mason and member of the church, Henry Wemmes. He had help from other skilled members of the church in completing this Gothic Revival brick building in late 1908. Mount Pisgah was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 1979. Unfortunately, the building is currently not being used by a congregation, so the fate of it is somewhat uncertain.”
Graf also provided this information: “A couple notables in the cemetery according to hmdb.org,
“Samuel C. Hodges (1874-1957), pharmacist, partner in Lee and Hodges Drug Store 1899-1904, founder and owner of Hodges Drug Store 1904-1957, president of the South Carolina Pharmaceutical Association, Greenwood city councilman for ten years, and state senator 1929-1932.
“William V. Blyth (1854-1929), son of Andrew A. Blyth, who founded the business that became Blyth Funeral Home in 1884, the first undertaker in South Carolina to do embalming, and the first to use a motor vehicle instead of a horse-drawn carriage for a hearse.
“Thomas White Cothran was born and reared on the old plantation at Millway, and was a member of the first class that graduated from Clemson College in 1896. In that splendid institution, he received the fundamentals of his training as an engineer. For two years, he was connected with the United States Geological Survey, being on duty in Texas, Indian Territory and Iowa. On the basis of his experience and proved achievements, Thomas White Cothran of Greenwood is one of the leading civil and construction engineers of his native state.”
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!