MYSTERY PHOTO:  Might be easy, but might not

At first glance, this might seem easy to many, but where actually was the photo taken?  Send your guess to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.  And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.

Our previous Mystery Photo

Our Sept. 24 mystery looked like the top of the Francis Marion Hotel to some, but it was actually the top of the Francis Marion’s former sister, the Westin Poinsett Hotel in Greenville.

Congratulations to this week’s photo sleuths: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Charlie Morrison of James Island; Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; and Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill, Ga./

Segars writes:  “This building is one of the first skyscrapers, 12 stories tall, in South Carolina.   Located at 120 S. Main St. in downtown Greenville, the Poinsett Hotel was designed by William L. Stoddard and built by the J.E. Sirrine Company of Greenville.  When it was completed in 1925, it cost $1.5 million.  Its interior featured many amenities not typically found in hotels of this era: a ballroom, a convention center, main and private dining areas, shops and stores and, best of all, 210 guest rooms each with a private bath.

Graf provided additional information:  “According to Wikipedia.com:  ‘Built at the end of an era during which small Southern cities demanded quality hotels to attract business travelers and symbolize their new urban status, the Poinsett Hotel was, in part, conceived to accommodate visitors to a biennial Southern Textile Exhibit held in Greenville. A century-old hotel, the Mansion House, was razed and a larger building was designed for its Main Street location by noted New York architect William Lee Stoddart. To help raise money for the project, local businessmen, led by textile magnate John T. Woodside (1864-1946), sold $100 shares of stock to 1,700 local residents; and the hotel was named for Joel R. Poinsett, a South Carolinian who had served as Secretary of War and as the first U.S. Minister to Mexico.  Groundbreaking occurred in May 1924; and the $1.5 million Poinsett Hotel opened in June 1925.’

“According the University of Virginia Miller Center, Poinsett was appointed Secretary of War by President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841), and Poinsett spearheaded a number of bloody Indian campaigns and forced resettlements in the South.  Joel Poinsett founded the Academy of Fine Arts in Charleston and later died in Sumter County, South Carolina, on December 12, 1851.”

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.