A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
It’s one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it communities. There are signs for Jalapa on I-26, but unless you know where it is you’ll drive right through and never know you’ve been there. I’ve known about Jalapa for most of my life. My family has a long history both in Newberry and in Laurens, so we’ve passed through … Read More “Seeking Jalapa” »
Next week is MLK Day, when Alan and I do our traditional exploration. This year Alan had a conflict, so we pushed the exploration forward a week. This year we decided to explore the old community of Lando and its iconic school building in Chester County. The school is one of the last remaining buildings … Read More “A Trip to Lando” »
A spiritu fomicationis,Domine, hibera nos.From the lightning and the tempest,O Lord, deliver us.From the scourge of the earthquake,O Lord, deliver us.From plague, famine, and war,O Lord, deliver us. From the place of ground zero,O Lord, deliver us.From the rain of the cobalt,O Lord, deliver us.From the rain of the strontium,O Lord, deliver us.From the fall … Read More “Gimme Shelter” »
One of the ghost towns I’ve wanted to explore is Kingsbury, in Lancaster County, South Carolina. Located on the Catawba River, Kingsbury started out as a ferry town. It appears on the 1825 Lancaster District Map in Robert Mills’s Atlas of South Carolina. In the late 1700s Andrew McIlwaine chartered a ferry across the Catawba … Read More “From Kingsbury to Stoneboro – Rambling in Lancaster County” »
As usual, fellow explorer Alan Russell and I planned to a ramble on MLK Day, as we do each year. We brainstormed several options, and decided to head to upper Anderson County to the community of Slabtown. I had actually visited these sites back in 2021 with the intention of writing a blog post about … Read More “Slabtown, Equality, and the Thalian Web – MLK 2025” »
With all the chaos post-Helene I haven’t had much of a chance to get out and explore. I’ve been working on scripts for season 2 of Carolina Ghost Towns, which will include an episode on the ghost town of Shelton in Fairfield County. It had been awhile since I had visited, so I thought it … Read More “Seeking Shelton” »
Several weeks ago I did a solo kayaking trip from Lawrence Bridge on Lake Hartwell up to the mill village of Newry. I’d done this trip before back in 2010, but thought it was high time I made a return. In those 12 years there have been many changes. The old abandoned textile mill at … Read More “Return to Newry” »
Each year I try to do a photo expedition on the MLK holiday. This tradition got started years ago when I was still working in the schools. MLK was an unexpected Monday off and I hated to waste it. I’ve been retired for quite a long time now, but I still try to do an … Read More “MLK Ramble 2024 – Mayesville and Salem Black River Church” »
Every year Alan Russell and I do some sort of ramble or exploration on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. This tradition started when both of us were in education and had a rare winter Monday that we didn’t have to work. This year we invited my brother, Houston, and Dwight Moffitt to come along … Read More “The Phoenix Riots and Dr. Benjamin Mays – An MLK Day Ramble” »
This blog post has been an amazing journey and has taken several weeks to complete. It has involved lots of people and diving down lots of research rabbit holes. I was able to piece together some answers, but I still have lots of questions. Since this is going to be a multi-page post I thought … Read More “Wilkinsville and a Mystery Church” »