Eliza's House

Eliza's House

Living room

Passage to the bed room

Bed room

View to the back yard

Eliza's House (c. 1870)

was once occupied by former Middleton slaves. This two-family duplex was constructed of mill-sawn weatherboard with a central, double (back-to-back) fireplace, and the interior and exterior walls were whitewashed. There was no connecting access between the two units, but occupants of each half had equal use of the porch and the loft.
It is known as "Eliza's House" in memory of Eliza Leach, a South Carolina African-American born in 1891, and the last person to live in the building. She died in 1986, at age 94, and almost to the last continued to live in the house much as her predecessors would have done: raking the bare "swept yard" clear of leaves and twigs, chopping wood for her fire, and toting water from the Spring House -- even though modern conveniences had long since been installed. Eliza also worked over 40 years at Middleton Place, performing a variety of duties, from sweeping and raking in the Gardens to collecting tickets and distributing brochures to visitors.

The original occupant of Eliza's House is not known. Middleton Place Foundation archival material suggests that in the 1880s the house was lived in by Ned and Chloe, former slaves of Williams and Susan Middleton. Before 1865, Ned had been one of Middleton's drivers, or field supervisors, and his wife Chloe was one of 30 slaves Susan brought as a dowry when she married Williams in 1849. Four years later, in 1853, Chloe had become a nursemaid for the Middleton's son. Chloe apparently had three children named Catherine, Elias and Julia. In early 1882 Mrs. Middleton wrote her daughter that Ned and Chloe had just been moved into their "palace." This is taken to mean Eliza's House. Mrs. Middleton also said that the marble nymph Ned called "an image" had been taken "into his piazza" for temporary storage. This was a reference to the Wood Nymph statue by Schadow (1810), buried for safekeeping in 1865 and now overlooks the Azalea Pool in the Gardens.

Read more about Eliza's house here

(ALL photographs on my blog from Middleton Place are NOT for sale!)




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South Carolina State Capitol Building

The Capitol Building in Columbia SC

The sculpture of George Washington in front of the building


George Washington is overlooking the new modern Down Town of Columbia,SC

A sculpture of General Wade Hampton at the backside of the building

Nice evening light view from the Capitol Building with sculpture

The South Carolina State Capitol Building in Columbia, SC

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Columbia, South Carolina is the SC State Capitol Building. The SC State Capitol Building consists of the South Carolina General Assembly, and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

It is an extremely historic building whose creation began in 1852. However, many events following that year caused delays in its completion. In 1854 what had already been built needed to be torn down because inappropriate materials were used. In 1865 building was suspended due to the war and the destruction in Columbia. In 1885 construction was to continue but the architect died and a new one had to be appointed. By 1907 after an estimated $3,540,000 was spent on the structure, it was almost finished.

There are many distinctive architectural designs on the SC State Capitol Building. For example, the copper dome on its roof makes it stand out within the complex. There are also 6 bronze stars on the building, which represent the hits made from Sherman’s tanks in 1865.

Today the SC State Capitol Building is home to a number of remarkable monuments and memorials commemorating different people who played a significant role in South Carolina’s history. They also commemorate those who fought and died for the state and the country. Within the SC State Capitol Building is a beautiful portrait and art gallery. Here you will find amazing works of art and portraits of notable members of the Senate and House.

Tours are available of the SC State Capitol Building and the grounds. It’s a great highlight of the Columbia area. It’s filled with so much history and is significant of South Carolina government. It’s a terrific learning experience for people of all ages.

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Fort Multrie on Sullivan's Island

Cannons and the Fort

By the entrance to the Fort Multrie Museum

Looking up to the sky

Palmetto tree, the (ugly) lighthouse and the Fort

Fort Sumter is so close, you can almost throw a stone across

Fort Moultrie is the name of a series of forts on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname (Palmetto State) of South Carolina.



History
The fort was unnamed and not yet complete when Admiral Sir Peter Parker and nine British warships attacked it on June 28, 1776, near the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.The soft palmetto logs did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; there were even reports of cannon balls actually bouncing off of the walls of the structure. In any case, Charleston was saved from capture, and the fort was named for the commander in the battle, William Moultrie, and the locals, to this day celebrate 'Carolina Day' to commemorate the bravery of the defenders of the fort, the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. The fort was eventually captured by the British in the siege of Charleston. (See the southern theater in the article titled American Revolution for more information).

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Visiting Beaufort, SC - Part 1

Beaufort SC is a pretty small town at the Beaufort River and with a lot of history in the background. With beautiful houses, where many movies were made, like "The big chill", "The great Santini", "The last dance" and some more. I will show you photos about those houses later.

This is just a detail capture of a beautiful classic entrance. I don't think it's even a famous house - only very nice and very beautiful!

I have seen some of these big and wonderful sculptured mermaids all over Beaufort. I missed to ask somebody about the reason why they are so up with those mermaids. There must be some story behind....!

Also here you can take a horse carriage ride trough the town and get all your information from the tourist guide. It was such a hot day and the guide was cooling of his horse with a water hose.

A stroll trough the small harbor.
I like to see all the pretty boats sitting in the docks.

Click on the picture to see it bigger and to learn about the endangered small population of the North Atlantic Right Wales.

A owl as a mascot?

How sweet is this name for a boat...? :-)

The city of Beaufort,

which is located on Port Royal Island, is rich in history. Near by Parris Island was the location of France's first colony in the New World, founded by Jean Ribault in 1562. The Spanish colonized St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. The first Scottish settlement in what is now the United States, known as Stuart Town, was founded on Port Royal Island in 1682, only to be destroyed by Spanish forces in 1684.

Beaufort was chartered in 1711 and is known as the second-oldest city in South Carolina, after Charleston. It was part of the Carolina colony and was governed by Lords Proprietors. The Treaty of Beaufort fixing the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia was signed in the city in 1787.

Beaufort is also a center for the Gullah culture and language. St. Helena Island, which is considered one of the last strongholds of the Gullah people, lies a few miles away.

Today, Beaufort has a substantial Marine Corps presence, with MCRD Parris Island and MCAS Beaufort as well as the Naval Hospital - Beaufort.



More pictures will come, stay with me please....

Read more about Beaufort here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort,_South_Carolina

Charles Towne Landing - A State Historic Site

The spot where the first settlers arrived with their ship and first stepped on land

A full size replica of a sailing ship

On many spots in the park you can see the archaeologists at work

The entrance gate to the Legare-Waring House

The authentic experimental crop garden

An elegant live oak alle’ and the Legare-Waring House

The sign explains briefly the history behind the Legare-Waring House

Front view of the entrance of the Legare-Waring House

Pretty marsh scene at the landing place

It was just a beautiful spring day



Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site

Cannons boom. Muskets bark. Interpretive rangers in 17th century dress tend heirloom crops. They’re all part of the “new” Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site.

Here a group of English settlers landed in 1670 and established what would become the birthplace of the Carolinas colony, the plantation system of the American South, and one of the continent’s first major port cities. And here the story is still told.

Opened in 1970 as Charles Towne Landing State Park, the peaceful park on a marshy point off the Ashley River was rebuilt in 2006 with a sharpened focus on the site’s remarkable past. Begin with the 12-room, interactive museum in the Visitors Center that includes a “digital dig”. Then walk the self-guided history trail, using the MP3 players that add an audio tour to the experience.

Admire the Adventure, a full-size replica sailing ship built onsite, and the authentic experimental crop garden.

Talk to archaeologists at work. And leave time for the Animal Forest natural habitat zoo and 80 acres of gardens that includes an elegant live oak alle’ and the Legare-Waring House, one of Charleston’s favorite sites for weddings and other special gatherings.

Read more about here

Harbor Tours

If you have time, do a harbor tour and visit also the legendary Fort Sumter with one of the schooners.

Or enjoy a tour with the Ferry out to the Fort

View from "The Battery" over to USS Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston, SC

I will bring more pictures from that open air museum pretty soon, so stay tuned.

Old History - Old Fort Dochester, SC

Dorchester County’s history dates back to 1696, when Dorchester was settled by two distinct groups that set sail from England. The Puritans came seeking religious freedom and the Anglicans came with the crown’s blessing to seek land and wealth. The Puritans arrived in 1696 from Dorchester, Massachusetts, and were responsible for the name of the town, the fort and eventually the county.

The Anglicans had been around for some 20 years when the Puritans arrived but St. George’s, Dorchester was not built until 1719. Together, the Anglicans and the Puritans built Dorchester into the third largest town in the state and an important shipping center for rice planters sending their goods down the Ashley River to Charleston. The tabby fort built of mud, oyster shells and limestone, now known as Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site, was constructed prior to the Revolutionary War and was used to defend the area. Such famous generals as Moultrie, Francis Marion and Wade Hampton held off the British from the fort.

The birth of Summerville at war’s end spelled the demise of Dorchester. All that remains is the fort, St. George’s bell tower and foundations of some houses, which are being carefully excavated.
Summerville started as Pineland Village around 1785 when plantation owners came here to escape the swamp fevers and insects. Before Dorchester County was formed in 1897, Summerville was situated in Charleston, Berkeley and Colleton Counties.

Dorchester County was very much a part of America’s first railroad. In 1830, the rails started at Charleston and ran through Summerville to Hamburg, opening the upper part of the county above Cypress Swamp.

Ridgeville got its name about that time and began to grow. St. George was originally named for the first settler, James George, who leased the land to the railroad and it became an important station on the line. Reevesville was founded in or near Indian Trail, supposedly before 1793, and several hundred members of the Edisto Indian tribe live in Indiantown today. They were officially recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the 1970s. The rural town of Givhans is home to a state park on the banks of the Edisto River.

With the Civil War came the end of the plantation system and thus the end of the economy and the only lifestyle known to most of Dorchester’s inhabitants. Not until after Reconstruction was there a beginning of recovery.

In 1899, a world congress of medical specialists in the field of respiratory disease gathered in Paris. The group, known as “the Tuberculosis Congress,” named Summerville one of the two best areas in the world for the cure of lung and throat disorders. The town was so named because of its situation on a dry, sandy ridge, amidst pine trees that charge the air with derivatives of turpentine. Their findings were widely publicized and a golden era began for the lower part of Dorchester County; and one inn after another sprang up as the town quickly became a favorite winter resort for Northern visitors who came to enjoy the mild climate and hunting season. The most famous, the Pine Forest Inn, sometimes served as the Winter White House for Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt.

South Carolina's State Flag and the Palmetto Tree

The South Carolina State Flag

Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776.

Read more here

Sabal palmetto, also known as Cabbage Palm, Palmetto, Cabbage Palmetto, and Sabal Palm,

is one of 15 species of palmetto palm (Arecaceae, genus Sabal). It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In the United States it occurs throughout Florida and coastal Georgia Coastal South Carolina and North Carolina. Although historically reported from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, this population has long been extirpated. It is the state tree of South Carolina and Florida.

Sabal palmetto grows up to 20 m in height, with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is 1.5-2 m long, with 40-60 leaflets up to 80 cm long. The flowers are yellowish-white, 5 mm across, produced in large compound panicles up to 2.5 m long, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe about 1 cm long containing a single seed. It is extremely salt-tolerant and is often seen growing near the Atlantic Ocean coast, and also frost-tolerant, surviving short periods of temperatures as low as -14 °C.

Read more about here