Charleston: "Of ghosts and earthquakes..."

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Think 'earthquake' and you think California, the San Andreas Fault, maybe the Pacific "Ring of Fire". But you don't think Charleston, SC in the sleepy, flat Southeast coast well away from mountains and geologic/tectonic plate boundaries.

Just short of 10pm on August 31, 1886, a rare and significant quake struck the bustling harbor city, estimated to have been between 6.6 and 7.3 on the Richter scale. Damage was extensive, and worsened by the sandy soil which underwent liquefaction, making some areas instant quicksand.

Isoseismal map of 1886 Charleston earthquake
(basically how far out tremors reached and at what intensity)

I've included some post-quake images I ran across...interesting to note that some buildings withstood well the tremors, while others crumbled from inferior masonry techniques. The epicenter was very close to Charleston, with effects felt far and wide in the eastern U.S.

Medical College of SC

Hayne Street

Goose Creek church

Market Street

St. Michael's church (note cracks on side)

Police station, Broad and Meeting Streets

Today, you can see examples of how some buildings were saved from demolition by employing gargantuan bolts...metal rods extended through a house and literally bolted on the outside, as seen below:

And what would Charleston be without talking about its 'haints', as country folks call 'em. Ghosts. More hauntings and sightings around Charleston than flies on a Serengeti Wildebeest (how's that for random?).

First, do you know the difference between a 'cemetery' and a 'graveyard'?

If a church yard was used for burial, it became a 'graveyard'. If bodies were interred on property not attached to a church property, it was considered a 'cemetery'. I suppose some consider this a dead issue...

Circular Congregational Church and graveyard
(est. 1681, rebuilt in 1891 )

Oldest graves date back to 1695 at 'above' church
(repositioned graves made for packed headstones)

The older headstones used skulls with angel wings
(known as 'Death Angels')

Slightly more contemporary designs
made them more alien-like...

From the skull motif, they evolved
into cartoonish human forms...

Slowly the figures became more 'truthful'...

Story has it that this headstone of a former church minister was one of the first to have a realistically carved version of the deceased..note the hourglass (left) representing our human life, and the skull (right) still representing the Death Angel....

Even though I took part in a 10pm 'ghost walk' tour one night, no apparition appeared in front of the 20 or so tour groups walking around trying to find a quiet space to parlay ghostly tales...and wouldn't you know it the very next morning I was walking down a local street and just happened to snap a quick picture, barely capturing the fleeting banshee as it appeared...!

BOO!!!!

Now, go enjoy a BOO-tiful spring day!

Charleston, SC - Part II

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I will apologize out of the gate (with a picture of one!) for not having detailed records of each photo's information. Some I remember, and some I took because they looked neat. More often than not, I like to focus in on smaller areas, details, and textures, hence a real hodge podge for you today.

I'll start with my observation of how tight most buildable space was...this half-address gate led down a very narrow alley to a very small tenement squeezed in toward the back of the buildings around it. Not for the claustrophobic, I might add, especially with the plants taking up more room than the narrow stone walkway...

While walking a little on King Street, I started doing double-takes on some store fronts. What would normally be a narrow alley inbetween buildings has been retrofitted with a door, stairwells, and very limited landings. More than likely they also had entrances to the other buildings, but I'm not so sure I wouldn't have to turn my shoulders sideways to get up some of these ribbony entrances...

Everywhere you turn you see myriad architectural details of interest. There is plenty of ironwork to be found, and rather reminiscent of what I saw in New Orleans. The decorative gate top below has a very common motif seen around the city: a lyre. It's at the top center (note vertical 'strings')...

I showed a picture of Market Hall in Monday's post; this ornate railing is part of its south side portico. and I rather like the historically preserved color as opposed to going basic black...

This impressive colonial eagle is far more 3-dimensional than most building adornments. The artist definitely had a lot of talon...

Quite numerous were the variations on transoms. In our day and age of mass-production and slam-em-up building, you begin to appreciate the effort and planning these custom works took to complete.

While there are many architectural styles in the city, there does seem to be a great deal of Greek Revival designs, this being a more simple expression. FYI, the Monday's post showed the glorious Greek Revival mansion I shot down near the Battery...

Lots of custom entrance work on the substantial block building below...

There were so many beautiful churches in close proximity to each other that I can't pull this particular one's door out of my memory bank here at 1:12am...I will admit that part of me looked at these monstrous, thick doors of what looked to be Cypress, calculating how many flutes I could get out of 'em...

I think what I love about cars from the 50s, especially, was that they each had a highly distinctive style and color palate...and in Charleston there is a great architectual design diversity as opposed to the cookie-cutter same-ness we see so much of today. Lots of colors, too, like this pale pink beauty framed with sweeping stairs...

As mentioned already, Greek Revival is alive and well...and I was hard at work dusting off my college knowledge on the differences between Ionic, Doric, Corinthian, and...uh...I didn't get very far down that memory lane. It's Greek to me, especially after all these years...


I do remember this upper dormer of sorts (below) is from one of the newer buildings, The Charles Drayton House, ca. 1885. It's a lovely Victorian mansion with an eclectic blend of Chineese and Medieval European architectural styles...and an owl decoy.

I did not have a good weekend knee-wise, as one had seriously flared up the week before...but in having to walk more slowly on the uneven slate sidewalks and the occasional cobblestone side streets, I got to marvel even more at the textures of this rich city...

You can well imagine there are antique stores galore throughout the city, some big, some small, some fancy, some more plain, all way too expensive for me. But one particular sign at a darkened antique store caught my eye:

Now THAT'S my kind of working hours!

Happy Hump Day, y'all! Tomorrow, I think I'll take you to some Charleston graveyards where there was a whole lot o' shakin' going on at one time...

Charleston, SC: Take a hike...

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You might think that for my first installment I would go over something historical per my trip to Charleston, SC. Nay, dear readers, nay...honestly, I could have chosen any number of tangents, but I chose 'open spaces' first. "Natural areas" play an important role in cities...the preservation of space, trees, flora and fauna, etc. is critical to any location. And for all of Charleston's hunger for growth and development, they have the park 'thing' down pat, especially along the southeast corner appropriately called Waterfront Park.

The above fountain flaunts a pineapple motif...in colonial America, the pineapple was quite symbolic, though the origins of which are unclear. In the late 1600s, the motif was being used on church finials, as it was an adopted Christian symbol at that time. From colonial times to this day, the pineapple remains a symbol for "Welcome" and "Hospitality".

At the southern tip of town, The Battery (including White Point Garden) is known for its elegant houses and expansive tree-lined corridor, ripe for strolling and weddings....and chasing squirrels...

That ol' dog was not interested in running after the squirrels, due to its age...just wanted to practice the stalking technique for old time's sake...I can relate!...

When planning parks and walkways, you have to account for the years required for trees to grow appropriately into their shadowing shapes, which takes a real artistic vision...and kudos to the park planners for providing plenty of shaded benches where you find yourself resting in the breezes of the day.

As you'll see in subsequent posts, Charleston is a booming economy in a national sea of economic doldrums, and space comes at a premium price. It's nice to know that within walking distance you can get to a "green" area and relax, choosing direct sunshine or salubrious shade, as both opportunities abound...

In the world of the Southeast's drought, water is in good supply there in the Low Country. Fountains are just plain fun, as any kid with parents in tow will attest...with my eyes ever scanning for unique perspectives to capture, I immediately saw one in the criss-crossing water arcs up close...

Myriad are the opportunities to get away from the historic streets...to take a deep breath and slow the ol' pace of Life down...

We stayed at Charleston Place, which was both crammed into its downtown space and yet spreading its arms for space, with this main entrance fountain greeting new arrivals...

...and this more meek one at an alternate entrance courtyard off Market Street...


Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment of yet another aspect of historic Charleston, SC...