Into the Mystic … Travels & Photography

Churches of Edisto Island, South Carolina

Churches of Edisto Island

Edisto Island, South Carolina

While on the road the Winter of 2017 we spent some time in March on Edisto Island; enough time to find and photograph some unique people, places and structures.

One morning’s trek back up SC 174 to photograph a couple of eye-catching church buildings grew to several days, several places and several kind South Carolinians who extended themselves to me.

A tip of the hat and a thank you to :

Librarian Marilyn Bowman of the Charleston County Public Library on Edisto, Island,

the Rector Weyman Camp of the Trinity Episcopal Church,

and Craig Williams congregant of the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island

These folks proved to be exceptionally gracious, welcoming and informative, local Edistonians at their finest, proud South Carolinians all.

Trinity Episcopal ChurchFounded in 1774, the present church (the third church building), consecrated in 1881, stands on the sight of the old sanctuary.

The church was occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War, destroyed by fire in 1876 and damaged by the hurricane of 1893.

The sanctuary was rebuilt and features beautiful interior work done by a former slave.

The old bead-board and blown glass windows have been lovingly preserved.The Trinity Episcopal (now Anglican) Church graciously provides a building’s worth of space for the Charleston County Public Library on Edisto Island.

The Library has wonderful staff and a wonderful presence.

New Englanders (Yankees) are wont to judge towns by their Town Library.

Edisto gets high library marks and high book store marks.

Down the road a-piece stands the two buildings of New First Missionary Baptist Church.

The new sanctuary and community building  and beyond it the historic sanctuary of the New First Missionary Baptist Church.

This Church was founded and built in 1818 by the wife of an Edisto plantation owner, Hephzibah Jenkins Townsend.

Many slaves worshipped here, and after the Civil War it was turned over to the African-American congregation.

Descendants of 19^th century members continue to worship today in the New First Baptist Missionary Church next door.

The historical sanctuary now houses the congregation of The Episcopal Church On Edisto.A theological dispute that became a political and legal dispute at the Diocese level resulted in a segment of the Trinity Episcopal Church (now Anglican) congregation and leadership leaving and becoming the The Episcopal Church On Edisto.

“Our brother in Christ, the Rev. Albert C. (Chick) Morrison, has offered our
continuing worship community the use of the historic sanctuary of the New First
Missionary Baptist Church for our worship services on an ongoing basis.  We are
very blessed by the generosity of this very kind Christian man and his
congregation.”

The Episcopal Church On Edisto

The Zion Reformed Episcopal Church, “the Episcopal Church of Color”.The Zion Reformed Episcopal Church was founded after the Civil War by African-American members of the Trinity Episcopal Church who were unwilling to be restricted to sitting in the upstairs galleries of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Presbyterians settled Edisto Island and their Church buildings and Church property attest to that fact.

A Presbyterian congregation was meeting on Edisto Island possibly as early as 1689.

The original building was erected in 1710, which later burned and was replaced in 1807.

The present church was constructed under the supervision of E.M. Curtis, a Charleston builder and completed 1836.

The beautiful Classic Greek Revival architecture reflects the prosperity of the Edisto planters and served both the white and black islanders until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861.

It has a large graveyard with many fine gravestones dating from 1792.

A large balcony with exterior entrances was built for  slaves.

The church interior has been beautifully restored, today, to include its original high pulpit .

Researcher Agnes L. Baldwin wrote that the earliest settlers on Edisto Island were Welsh and Scottish immigrants, and that Rev. Archibald Stobo “had begun preaching on Edisto in 1722 and that (the church) had been established by at least 1710.”

She continues, interestingly, “at first the Presbyterian worshippers shared their building with the Baptists, and relied on circuit riders for their pastors, but by 1722, they alone were using the church.”

Historically, Anglican and Presbyterian churches made earnest efforts, Baldwin writes, but could not compete with Baptists and Methodists in attracting Black churchgoers. The Allen AME Church, The Old First Baptist Church and many other smaller churches on Edisto, today, are historic and teaming with churchgoers every Sunday. Many drive long distances to attend.

… There is a Presbyterian Church that is black, now, down the road. The Rev. McKinley Washington, pastor of Edisto Presbyterian Church, is in his 70’s. He served for 27 years as a legislator, first in the House, then the Senate. In 1964, he organized a branch of the NAACP and led a successful voter registration drive. Today, the beautiful bridge that leads to Edisto Island is named for him, and he gathers, still, a loyal congregation.

(The Reverend McKinley Washington retired May of 2012.)

Interviewed in 2007, Washington said that his church started shortly after the Civil War in the same way many black churches began. “Blacks worshiping in the balcony of the white church, The Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island, just up S.C. Highway 174, were asked to leave — during a service, the story goes. They finished their worship that day in the shade of an old oak tree.”

Their first church structure was assembled with material from Palmetto trees. Eventually, a tiny church building was uprooted from Edingsville Beach, floated up the river to Murray’s Landing, then set in place at Cypress Bottom Road and Highway 174, Washington said. In 1968, the current brick structure with its huge Presbyterian cross was erected. It’s name is Edisto Island Presbyterian Church.

The Manse of the Presbyterian Church On Edisto

The two-and-a-half story manse is thought to have been built for the Church’s minister around 1790.

The land for the manse was donated to the Church by Henry Bowers in 1717.

Though updated with modern conveniences, modifications to the Presbyterian Manse have been few over time, and the house remains virtually the same in appearance as when it was built.

It is the oldest structure on the island associated with a church.

Botany Bay Road beyond the Allen AME Church The Allen AME Church across the salt marsh down the Botany Bay Road.

Home of the community-wide food bank.

I am hoping I have been fair and just to all in my written comments.

Expanded Image Gallery ~ Churches of Edisto Island

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, SC

On Tour With Joyce Weir

Charleston History Tours ~ Picture Perfect Walks

A Great Mix of Charleston History and Image Subject, Composition Prompts and Advice

Wonderful

Circular Church CongregationalWashington Square

After a History of Fires All Homes Had To Be Constructed of Brick – Note Clapboarding Over Brick

Note the Absence of HVAC and Telephone Wires, Cables and PolesSt Michael’s Episcopal Church

Wedding Cake HouseOutdoor Privy From Back In the DayPreserved Row HomesIron Work and Intricately Pointed Brick WorkDecorative Hurricane Bolts Preserved Row Homes Formal Garden

Brick Alley – Note Stucco Over Brick Towards Rainbow RowCalhoun’s BankCobbles & Thigh Roof Tiles ~ Oldest Structure In Charleston ~ 1712Dock Street Theater & St. Phillips Church ~ 1809 & 1835

Slight Tilt Due To EarthquakeWell Done Joyce Weir – Charleston History Tours ~ Picture Perfect Walks

Well Done Charleston, South Carolina

~~~

The southern cities of New Orleans (Louisianan), Savannah (Georgia) and Charleston (South Carolina) all have similarities and individuality.

NOLA is and was an outpost of the French and Spanish empires in North America, more a Carribean place than an American place. Slavery and cotton. The city and it’s peoples keep getting up off the hurricane and flooding mat and partying on. Safe but still the bottom rung on the seedy scale (which is not a bad thing in my book). Wonderful streets and architecture in and around the city. Jackson Square abounds with art and energy: lots of street people and street energy, a melange of people moving at all hours. Culture and peoples are palpable in NOLA. Well done: live music, accessible music, jazz music.

Savannah dodged a bullet back in the day thanks to Sherman’s desire, after burning much of the of the South, to gift the preserved city to President Lincoln. Slavery and the black freedman are present. Love the city squares lay out, the omnipresent live oaks and color, SCAD and the presence of youth, the city’s accessibility and pride. Oglethorpe was the man. Again with a distinctive architecture and a preservationist presence, photographic opportunities abound. These folks party too just not as often nor as hard as the denizens of NOLA. Savannah owns the middle ground on the seediness scale. River Street needs way fewer tacky tourist sales traps; but oh the pralines at both ends of the walk.

Charleston, a walled city back in the day, fewer squares and fewer live oaks, early on preserved itself for the future. History is palpable in Charleston: fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, a busy seaport and the cultivation of rice, cotton, and indigo. slavery, slave insurrections and wars. You want haughty property values, than Charleston, SC is your place. Oozing with preserved history, so much so that some of the old homes still have entry way boot scrapers. All cynicism aside Charleston is the epitome of the historical southern city. Charleston was slow to recover from the devastation of the Civil War. Its pace of recovery became the foundation of the City’s greatest asset – its vast inventory of historically significant architecture.  Other grand southern cities may, but Charleston does not appear on the seedy scale.

NOLA, Savannah and Charleston. All grand southern cities, all distinct and unique individual peoples and places.

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve ~ State of Florida ~ II

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

Florida State Parks

More an Ecological Preserve Than a State Park and All the Better For It

Way Windy Day For the Meadowlarks

Bothered By the Wind Big Time Not At All Bothered By the Wind

On the Hunt

Seven Mile Slough Success

Made Quick Work of This Catch While the Other Predatory Birds Stood Around On the Periphery

One Well Fed Anhinga Picking Up Sticks and Pitching Them In the Air and Then Trying To Catch Them ~ Odd One of My Favorite Places In the State of Florida

I Am Fearing That the Word Is Out

Hopefully the Increased Interest, Recognition and Visitation Can Be Managed For the Betterment of the Preserve

Friends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve ~ State of Florida

(March 20117) – Blog Post Link

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve Expanded Image Gallery Link

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve ~ State of Florida

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

Florida State Parks

More an Ecological Preserve Than a State Park and All the Better For It

Prairie Buggy Ride

Season November Through the First of April ~ For the Big Picture, Not To Be Missed

Preserve Entrance Road

Meadowlark

ShrikeSeven Mile Slough

Snake-Like Anhinga

Great Blue Feeding Frenzy

Radiating

Wood StorkFriends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve ~ State of Florida ~ II

Blog Post Link

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve Expanded Image Gallery Link

Abita Brewery ~ Abita Springs, Louisiana ~ 2017

Abita Brewery

Last visited 2012.

Huge changes for and investments in the craft brew industry in the past five years.

Those changes are on display at both breweries that we visited this trip (2017):

Shiner (TX) and Abita (LA)

Still single breweries in small towns but both have made huge investments in updating and upgrading their brewery equipment and facility.

Abita allowed for the more comfortable and photographically accessible tour of the two.

Both were equally proud of their brewery, their people and their product.

The free-wheeling step-right-up & serve-yourself tasting room of five years ago at Abita is no more.

Now that Abita has made a name and a presence for themselves on the craft brew scene,

controlled intake, controlled access and at a cost is the name of the tasting room game.

Still very nice.

Still an enjoyable afternoon.

An extremely energy efficient operation, nothing is lost. Same tanks, just the room/floor below.

Abita Brewery 2012 – Blog Post Link

Abita FB

A Working Man’s Hands ~ The Cigar Factory, NOLA

Phillippe

The Cigar Factory

NOLA

Mardi Gras 2017

To Be Appreciated

A Working Man’s Hands

Two Hundred In the 8 Hour DayIn The ZonePhillippe At His Bench

In The Humidor To Age Plan To Spend Some Time With Your Smoke of Choice Aficionados All

Expanded Image Gallery ~ The Cigar Factory, NOLA 2017

Check This Out

Hand Rolled By Leonardo ~ 2014

Luneta At The Maison NOLA

Luneta

at

The Maison

NOLA

Luneta ~ Expanded Image Gallery Link

Shiner, Texas

Shiner, Texas

at the intersection of U.S. Highway 90A and State Highway 95 in western Lavaca County Texas

the town that beer built and sustains

Shiner Bock

… and do try the cream ale and the cold brewed coffee ale, my favorites among the family of Shiner Beers.

“In 1885 a post office called Half Moon was opened at a trading post near the present site of Shiner. When the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway came to the area in 1887 it bypassed Half Moon and built through land owned by Henry B. Shiner. Shiner donated 250 acres for a right-of-way and depot, and a town soon grew around the new transportation facilities. At first the community was called New Half Moon, but in 1888 its name was changed to Shiner. Shiner was incorporated in 1890, and L. P. Amsler was elected the first mayor. Czech and German immigrants soon became the dominant ethnic groups, and Shiner developed a cohesive Czech community through social organizations such as the National Sokol Society and the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas. “

The Texas Handbook ~ www.tshaonline.org

The ‘Grand Lady’ of Shiner ~ The Shiner Opera House

Shiner Gaslight TheaterMain Street ~ Shiner, Texas.

Smart Car and all.Two reasons for Shiner’s location and success: the railroad, originally the San Antonio & Aransas Pass (SAAP) and the Spoetzel Brewery.

The Spoetzel Brewery and their variations of Shiner Beer have made the town ‘a household word’ throughout the state of Texas.

The Spoetzl Brewery started in 1909. It was originally named “The Shiner Brewing Association,” (SBA) and was founded by German and Czech immigrants who had settled around the central Texas town of Shiner. Unable to find the type of beer they had known in their home countries, they decided to brew their own. It is the oldest independent brewery in Texas and one of the oldest independent breweries in the U.S.

wikipedia

Shiner was originally a “Lenten” beer, only available in the spring. As the brewery gained popularity in the area, the SBA began to look for a trained professional brewmaster. They found one in Bavarian-born Kosmos Spoetzl, a onetime soldier who had trained as a brewmaster in his native Germany. Part of the package that lured Spoetzl to Shiner was potential ownership of the brewery. In 1914, he co-leased it with Oswald Petzold with an option to buy in 1915, which he did, giving the brewery his own name but continuing to call the brews Shiner Beers. Spoetzl had attended brewmaster’s school and apprenticed for three years in Germany, worked for eight years at the Pyramids Brewery in Cairo, Egypt, and then worked in Canada. He had moved to San Antonio in search of a better climate for his health, bringing with him a family recipe for a Bavarian beer made from malted barley and hops.

wikipedia

During Prohibition, Kosmos Spoetzl kept the brewery afloat by selling ice and making near beer. After Prohibition, only five of the original 13 Texas breweries were still intact. Following Prohibition, Spoetzl kept things small and simple, never going more than 100 miles for business.

wikipedia

Carlos Alvarez of San Antonio acquired the brewery in 1989 (from the last of the Spoetzel family). As of 2012, it is the fourth-largest craft brewery and the tenth-largest brewery overall in the United States.

wikipedia

Saints Cyrus and Methodius Church

One of Texas’ Painted Churches.

A red brick rectangular building with stone cut buttresses and buff and gray brick designs. The square tower supports an octagonal spire.

In 1890 two acres of land were bought for construction of a church. The first wood frame church was completed the following year and damaged in a tornado in 1892.

By the early twenties, the congregation had long outgrown the original church and the present church was built near the first.

In 1954 the building underwent a restoration and it is believed the interior was painted shortly thereafter.

Shiner, Texas

Whooping Cranes ~ Aransas NWR – Coastal Bend, Texas

The Whopping Cranes

of

Aransas NWR/Wood Buffalo NPC

Aransas NWR ~ FB

Day one was a tease with overcast, cloudy conditions and, until the end of the day, the birds, five feet tall all white, excepting black wing tips and red capped heads, stayed at a distance. Shooting from a floating platform in the wind and the elements was a new experience. I found myself low on the new learning curve that first day.

Captain Kevins Simms of Aransas Bay Birding Charters managed to be in the right place at the right time.

He was able to predict the birds behavior, cuing us for the upcoming flight or display.

Excellent!!

The second day was a glorious day of shooting from start to finish. Lots of different lighting, most of it good. The birds, of all sorts, but especially the Whooping Cranes,  were more accessible and demonstrative.

The Oyster Catcher antics and behavior display at the end of the day was exceptional.

Once in a lifetime.

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus organized this exceptional photography tour. Jeff communicated a lot of pertinent natural history on the spot as it was happening and being observed. He also was adept at predicting bird behavior and cuing us as a group.

It took quite a while to process the number of images captured over the two day experience as well as to process the new learning that occurred.

An exceptional experience.

Sign me up for next year!

~~~

The Whooping Cranes were omnipresent, whether they were center stage or not. This was their ancient winter feeding and roosting grounds. This was their annual time to raise a colt, rarely two. There was a palpable primal energy in the presence and continued existence of these grand birds.

Birds whose breeding numbers had dwindled to just over a dozen:

Imagine!

“Aransas Nationa Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 to protect the Texas wintering grounds of the Whooping Crane. The flock you’ll see here travels an amazing 2,500 miles each year down from the Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada, and is composed of descendants of the last wild flock (which according to many sources had fallen to a mere 16 individuals by1942). The birds were officially listed as “endangered” on March 11, 1967 under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. In 2012 (the last year for which exact stats are available), the Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock (as it’s commonly known) numbered 279 – up from an estimated 245 in late 2011. (They now estimate, rather than directly count, the flock size; the 2014 estimate is stated at 304. The 2017 number is approximately 350.)”

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus

“‘Whoopers’ as they are affectionately called, can live up to 24 years in the wild. Adults weigh about 15 pounds. As North America’s tallest birds they stand up to 5 feet tall and have 7 1/2 foot wingspans. They are monogamous, typically forming life-long connections with mates. The birds are ground-nesters and both parents contribute to the raising of the young. The juveniles that you will see are about 6 months old and, while they can fend for themselves, you’ll often see them ‘begging’ their parents for food.

That food, often includes protein- and fat-rich Blue Crabs, unique animals in their own right.”

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus

“Due to high amounts of protein and fat, Blue Crabs make great food for Whooping Cranes.

Compound eyes on top of the head allow Blue Crabs to see in almost every direction at once. The crustaceans have five pairs of legs (one doubles as a set of pincers), which they can regenerate within two molts if one is lost in battle.

It takes Blue Crabs 18-20 molts to reach adulthood. Females mate just once in a lifetime, upon reaching the final molt. When arriving at her ‘terminal molt’ a female Blue Crab signals her reproductive availability with the release of a pheromone. Unlike females, male Blue Crabs mate often. After fertilization, the male protects the recently-molted females until her new shell hardens. When ready to spawn she will fertilize her eggs with stored sperm before placing them on tiny hairs  on her abdomen, where they remain 14-17 days. About two months later, hatchlings begin resembling adult Blue Crabs; however, in spite of the fact that females produce an average 2-million eggs, only one or two of them make it to adulthood.”

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus

“This tour takes place in a coastal wetland environment. Coastal wetlands – also known as ‘tidal’ or ‘estuarine’ wetlands, or ‘salt marshes’ – are where fresh water empties from rivers and meets the ocean (in this case the Gulf of Mexico). Texas has roughly 2,00 miles of estuary-bay shoreline.

The degree of the water’s saltiness (it’s brackishness) dictates what kind of animals can live there. Some coastal wetlands have more salt in them than others. Unfortunately, Texas now faces a problem whereby not enough freshwater is making it downstream to our Gulf estuaries. Due to statewide population growth more and more freshwater is being used and/or kept upstream. Freshwater inflows are crucial to maintaining bay and estuary health and the lack thereof has upset the delicate salt/salt-free balance that many coastal wetland species need to survive. Conservationists are especially concerned for the Whooping Cranes that reside each here winter.”

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus

Thank You Jeff Parker

~~~ ~~~

Captain Kevin Simms ~ Aransas Bay Birding Charters

Aransas Bay Birding Charters ~ FB

Jeff Parker ~ Explore In Focus

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Expanded Image Gallery Link : Aransas NWR ~ Winter 2017

Past Aransas NWR area blog posts:

Birds of a Feather

Duck Itch ~ Port Aransas Birding Center

Port Aransas Preening

Cap’n Tommy’s Whooping Crane Tour ~ Fulton, Texas