A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Salem United Methodist Church sits prominently on White Horse Road, right where it intersects with I-185 on the west side of Greenville. The church has a history with our family. From 1963 until 1976 its pastor was the Rev. Bill Cooke. My brother, Stephen, and Bill’s daughter, Cynthia Cooke were married in the church in … Read More “Orphaned Cemeteries – Old Salem Methodist Church” »
Humans are weird. At least in our western culture, they expect that a sixteen square foot plot of land will be set aside for them in perpetuity, to be held sacrosanct as a memorial of their existence. It seems that over the generations we would eventually run out of land for burials. Perhaps that’s one … Read More “The Orphaned Graveyards of Greenville County” »
The Second Saturday of August meant time for another adventure with my friends from Lowcountry Unfiltered. Matt and I bounced a few ideas around before settling on The Jungle, a section of Lake Moultrie featured as part of the Berkeley County Blueways. It was a new venue for us, and turned out to be a … Read More “Exploring The Jungle of Lake Moultrie” »
When I’m out exploring I’m easily distracted by roads with names that contain the words “School”, “Church”, or “Mill.” This is usually an indicator that there was, or possibly still is something historic and of interest on that road. For some reason, Parkins Mill Road in Greenville has escaped my scrutiny. Perhaps it’s because it’s … Read More “The Allen Parkins Project” »
Each year Alan Russell and I do an exploration on the Matin Luther King holiday. This got to be a tradition because both of us were available on a day when we didn’t have family obligations, etc. This is the first year since Alan has been retired, so this time he DID have MLK Day … Read More “A Wedge of Waxhaws” »
The story of a “Crybaby Bridge” seems to be a common trope in tales of the paranormal. There are Crybaby Bridges all over the country. Each bridge has a similar story. Usually, a distraught mother kills a baby by tossing it into the water below. Thereafter, any travelers crossing the bridge at night will hear … Read More “An Electric Crybaby” »
For many years I’ve known about the underground railroad passage in Anderson, South Carolina. The passage hints at a forgotten history and neglected part of the city. I’ve visited the entrances to the passageway several times, but just never got up the nerve to explore it by myself. This past week fellow explorer Alan Russell joined me, and together we finally got a chance to explore Underground Anderson.
For many years I drove over the bridge over the South Tyger River at Berry Shoals, looking longingly at the old steel trestle bridge downstream and the twin lakes of Berry Shoals Pond and Silver Lake. I wanted to explore the area. However, I was always in route to one of my schools or on some other school district business, so I never got a chance to explore…until now. Sadly, my explorations were cut short, all for want of a hat.
For many years I was music director at McCarter Presbyterian Church here in Greenville. McCarter is a small church located prominently at the intersection of Pelham Road and East North Street, a spot it has occupied for the past 123 years. It seemed a unique little church in the bustle of a major neighborhood that somehow managed to survive.
But then I found out that it wasn’t unique.
I worked in Spartanburg county for fifteen years. During all of that time I never got around to visiting Nazareth Presbyterian Church. I knew it was one of the first churches in the area, having been established around 1765, but for some reason I thought that the building had been updated and no longer retained its historic character. I was wrong. When I had driven by it I had seen the new Family Life Center (a.k.a “gym”) and had thought that IT was the church, somehow missing the older building right next to it. While out doing some research on another project about church architecture Alan Russell and I finally paid Nazareth a visit.