MYSTERY PHOTO: Big, white building

Gee whiz — this building makes an impression.  But where in the Lowcountry is it? 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 Oct. 14 mystery, “Another old building” showed the Hutchison House on Edisto Island, which now reportedly is undergoing a renovation. Thanks to contributor Fred Palm for suggesting it as a mystery.

And congrats to these avid readers for correctly identifying the old house: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jim McMahon and Kristina Wheeler of Charleston; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; Larry Cannon of Simpsonville; and Jay Altman of Columbia.

Peel provided this context: “The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and it is the oldest, intact African-American residence from after the Civil War. It was the residence of Henry Hutchinson, a freed slave and the son of Jim Hutchinson who, following the Civil War, collaborated with his friend John Thorne to assemble groups of freed blacks of Edisto Island to pool their funds in order to purchase former plantations. The land was then subdivided into smaller parcels that were then sold back to the investors/residents based on their contributions to the ‘pool.’ Both Hutchinson and Thorne retained some land for themselves and their families as well.  Jim Hutchinson’s children built their own homes and farms on the land that Jim had acquired. Of these houses, Henry Hutchinson’s house is the only one remaining. It was built in 1885 and Henry resided there until his death in 1940.”

Wheeler added, “The Edisto Island Open Land Trust purchased that historic property and the nine acres surrounding it, so thankfully it is protected from future threats of being developed.

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.