MYSTERY PHOTO: Imagine the bugs you’ll find here….

This week’s mystery may be one of the toughest ever.  It shows a picturesque outdoor scene in South Carolina, but what and where in South Carolina is it?  (We’ll give you a hint … It is NOT in the Lowcountry.)

Send your best guess – plus your name and the town in which you now live – to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.  In the subject line, write: “Mystery Photo guess.” (If you don’t include your contact information, we can’t give you credit!)

Last issue’s mystery

The July 9 mystery photo showed a church that looked similar to a Barnwell church we showed a few months back.  This one, however, was the Church of the Cross in Bluffton.

Congratulations to several photo sleuths for identifying what we thought would be a tough picture:  Chris Brooks and Sherry Cook, both of Mount Pleasant; Bill Segars of Hartsville; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Charlie Morrison of James Island; and Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.  Thanks!

Graf provided more context:  “According to churchofthecross.net, in the early 1830s. the young town of Bluffton was a summer resort for area and inland planters and a stop on the ferry route between Savannah and Beaufort.  In July of 1854, construction of the present building began. Architect E. B. White designed a structure described then as a “handsome cruciform Gothic building”, which indeed it remains today.

“It’s easy to imagine the summer congregation of island planters beginning June Sundays with worship. You can almost feel the cool morning air wafting through open windows as the harmonies of hymns float out.

In 1863, Federal troops marched into Bluffton burning most of the town. Although the church was spared, its congregation fled. Services on The Bluff resumed in 1870, when the Rev. E. E. Bellinger arrived and oversaw repairs.  The National Register of Historic Places has listed The Church of the Cross since 1975 and it is part of the Diocese of South Carolina and the Anglican Church in North America.”

• Send us a mystery:  If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)   Send it along to  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.