Rock City Barns

These used to dot the road ways. "See Rock City" painted on the roofs and sides of barns.First painted in 1935, there were as many as 900. Rock City was an attraction in Chattanooga, TN and the owners obviously had an ambitious marketing plan to paint barns from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2005, 70 years after the first barns were painted less than 100 remained. This one is in Robbinsville, North Carolina.

As a bit if trivia, a gentleman by the name of Clark Byers painted the barns for 30 years until 1969. Over that time his handwork could be seen in 19 states.  Some of the more descriptive signs read “Beautiful Beyond Belief,” “The Eighth Wonder Of The World,” “Bring Your Camera,” and  “When You See Rock City, You See The Best.” (As in the above example.)

Old Doors

Examples of doors on abandoned houses in rural South Carolina. The tenants are long since gone.

Old Blue Truck

Located in the middle of a field in Newberry, South Carolina, this truck was abandoned - just stripped of all its chrome and left to the elements.

Rusty House Trailer

A trailer having seen its better days. An addition to the side makes one think it was more permanent than the concrete blocks would otherwise indicate. This is located on Edisto Island on Steam Boat Landing Road.

Red Barn

Old red barn still standing and doing its part on the farm.

Old Wooden Store

An old wooden store in down town Society Hill, South Carolina. Boarded up now, it still has the Penz Oil sign on the door. The lovely weathered wood has stood the time.

Blue House in Fort Motte

A blue house, almost lost in the brush in Fort Motte, South Carolina, a ghost town now, having two claims to fame: one being briefly considered for the capitol of the state of South Carolina and the other where Julia Peterkin, the 1928 Pulitzer Prize winning author of Scarlet Sister Mary, taught in the local school. She was married to William Peterkin and lived with him on his cotton plantaton, Lang Syne, near Fort Motte.

Old Gate

Here is a gate, now almost hidden underneath the oak trees with Spanish moss. The small old columns that now lean once proudly stood showing the entrance to a drive.

School Buses

There is something sad about old school buses put out to pasture - as if they did something wrong.

Smokey Mountain Railrod

The Great Smokey Mountain Railroad pulls out of Bryson City, North Carolina daily for a round trip run to the Nantahala Outdoor Centere and back through the Nantahala gorge and past hills and farmland. 

The famous train wreck scene in the 1993 The Fugitive (starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones)  was filmed in Dillsboro along the Railroad. The wreckage set can still be viewed on one of the eastbound  Excursions departing from Bryson City. Also the scene in the 1996 film, My Fellow Americans (starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner) when they stumble on to a charter train full of UNC-Chapel Hill fans headed for the NCAA Final Four, was filmed along the railway. As well as train scenes in the 1999 film Forces of Nature (starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock).

Mast General Store

The American Flag flying high in the Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, North Carolina (Quality Goods, Fair Prices and Old Fashioned Friendly Service since 1883). 

More Old Doors

A collection of old wooden doors, all closed - most for the last time.

Up, Up, and it still will not run - most likely.

I always think of Ron's car in Harry Potter when I see this 'gem", mounted for posterity. 

Studebaker Truck

An old Studebaker truck put to rest in Jerome AZ.  I never even knew one existed until I chanced upon this one.

Beaufort National Cemetery

The Beaufort National Cemetery is a hauntingly beautiful and reverent place under large old live oaks draped in Spanish moss surrounded by old brick walls. It was officially built in 1863 to handle the burials of Union soldiers during the Civil War, however it had been handling interments since 1861. Since that time it has had interments from every major American conflict, including the Spanish-American War, Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. 

Meadow Brook Hall

Sometimes you have to go large, as in Meadow Brook Hall, the estate of Matilda Dodge Wilson (as in Chrysler Dodge) in Rochester. Michigan. The 110 room Tudor-Revival Mansion built between 1926 and 1929 sits on a 320 acre farm. The house and gardens are quite lovely.

Atalaya

And, then there is Atalaya, the winter home of Archer M. Huntington and his wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Sometimes referred to as "Atalaya Castle" because Mr. Huntington built and designed the residence in the Moorish Revival and Mediterranean Revival  Architecture styles from Spanish Andalusian coast models. It is a 200 foot by 200 foot square structure built around a courtyard, constructed between 1931 and 1933. It sits just behind the dunes off the Atlantic ocean.

Tiderunner

Generations of families off the sea islands of South Carolina have made a living off the sea. Shrimping, in particular, have been popular (and sometimes prosperous) vocations. This old trawler, the Tiderunner, has seen better days, has been taken out of commission, and now just sits tied in the marsh, as time takes its toll on her old wooden soul.

Peanuts for Sale

I can't say for sure, but I do not think you can get Peanuts any longer at this establishment. Kudzu has staked its claim.

Red Roof Edisto House

An old house on Edisto Island having seen better days. Wisteria in the trees, shutters barely hanging on . . . once it was someone's home.

A Shady Tub

Perhaps these folks could work a deal with their neighbors (with the John by the barn). 

Outdoor Porcelain

You never know what you will find riding down a road. And, some sights require one to stop, turn around, go back just to make sure, "Is that really what I thought that was?" And, in fact, yes it was. Outdoor plumbing? 

And, for good reference, I checked a month or so ago (4 years from when the picture was first taken) and yes, it is still there.

Rose Covered Fence

Found on a road in Lexington County, SC, a bank of wild pink roses growing on a fence. The pastoral scene in not what comes to mind when most folks think about South Carolina. However, there is a lot of pasture, old fence lines, and old barns across the country side. Lexington County has lovely rolling hills.

Old House Trailer

This lovely abode was found by the railroad tracks in the small town of Livingston, SC (population 135).

I have no idea how old this house trailer is. And, I assume no one lives in it, given the brush is totally grown up around it. My question is: Will it just sit here until it just rusts to pieces and fall in on itself? Whatever, I found it to be curiously colorful.

Steamboat Landing House

This house is located on Steamboat Landing Road on Edisto Island in SC. The blue trim around the door ways and windows is traditional to the low country Gullah culture. The Gullah people believed that the indigo color paint surrounding all the openings of the house (the windows, doors, etc.) kept the "haints" out (ie the bad spirits.) When I was younger I can remember houses with blue trim being every where in the low country. Now they are hard to find.

This house also looks like it may have been a "Juke Joint" at one time. (ie a small time country bar). FYI the term "Juke Box" came from music played in a "Juke Joint".

Farm Shed

Old farm shed with a wagon, especially in the fall. 

Tobacco Barn

These old tobacco barns used to dot the country side in the counties in SC where tobacco was the cash crop. Now, they are rarely seen. Many burned down drying the tobacco leaves and others just fell do to abandonment and neglect.

Out Building - Penn School

Another out building on the grounds of the historic Penn School in Frogmore, SC.

Old House - Penn School

This old house is actually part of the Penn School in Frogmore on St Helena Island in SC. The school was established by people from Pennsylvania after the war to educate former slaves in the area.

Shrimp Boat

Old shrimp boat abandoned in the marsh. Often these were run by families for generations.

White Picket Fence

There was always the proverbial White Picket fence. And, they are not always  in town. 

Back Porch of Sweatmans

And, if you don't want to dine in at Sweatman's there is always the side porch. This is where you get your "Take Out Orders"

Sweatmans BBQ

Don't let this old house fool you. This is the mecca for the best ribs and BBQ in South Carolina. The Sweatman family owned and ran the operation until a year or two ago. Every one knows to come early because when the food is gone, it is gone. And, the lines are going to be long. Cars are parked in random order under the old oak trees.

They only serve their wonderful food on Friday and Saturday, it takes the rest of the week to prepare it. They have to get the hickory wood. Then slowly burn the wood to make charcoal. After preparing the hog, they slow cook it over the smoldering coals for a long time. Then when the meat is literally falling off the bones, it is ready to be pulled and chopped.

Until the business was sold two years ago, there was no phone and if you made the mistake of showing up during the first two weeks in August, you were out of luck, Margie and Bub (Sweatman) closed shop those two weeks every year for a best deserved break.

Lunch on the Grounds at Sardis Church

There's a southern term, "lunch on the grounds" which refers to lunch that is served on the church grounds after the Sunday service. This can be to celebrate Homecoming or Revival. Whatever the reason it is a festive occasion, not just for the fellowship, but for the food. This is a meal of fried chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, biscuits - and, of course every church lady's most "famous" dessert, not that they would be competitive or anything. 

Some of my fondest memories were going to Lunch on the Grounds with my grandparents and my Grandmama's delightful biscuits and to die for coconut cake. (No one would dare show up with anything "store bought".)

This a picture of the tables under the picnic shed at Sardis Church, that I am sure were made just for that purpose. I can only imagine the good food and fine fellowship that has been shared over the past 130 years or so. 

Sardis Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery

Another view of Historic Sardis Church in Branchville, SC. 

Sardis Methodist Episcopal Church

This lovely historical church sits just outside Branchville SC. The original church, a log building, was built in 1811 on a site about a mile from the present one. A second one, a frame structure, to replace the first was built on that original site in 1849. The role of the church in 1849 shows "80 whites and 32 coloreds". In 1870, the church records show the frame structure was "so dilapidated it was torn down". The present church (shown here) was constructed in 1871 and still stands today. 

Rail and Barn

An old red barn and fence post.

Old Mailboxes

Some are rusty, some have bit the dust, but most still serve their purpose, all having seen a better day.

Old Suburban

Just left there, did it carry a family on vacations, workers to a site, or a journeyman to his job?

Three Barns

Still standing through the test of time.

A Colorful House

My guess is that this house was light blue in a better life. And, it has seen better days.