MYSTERY PHOTO:  Where it looks like Halloween all of the time

Here’s a spooky picture for a sun-splashed June.  Where is it in South Carolina?  Send your best guess – plus your name and hometown – 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

More people correctly guessed the location of our June 18 mystery than any mystery in recent memory.  For serious history buffs, it was a little easier than usual.  The photo was a closeup of Drayton Hall along Ashley River Road in Charleston.

Congratulations to this week’s outstanding sleuths:  David Savard, Rebecca Manning Davis, Stephen Yetman and Jim McMahan, all of Charleston; Ross Lenhart of Pawleys Island; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Paul Hedden of James Island; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; Deborah Getter of Johns Island; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; Michael Kaynard and Kristina Wheeler, both of West Ashley

Graf, as usual, provided some context for the photo:  “According to draytonhall.org, ‘little is known about John Drayton’s life prior to purchasing the tract of land in 1738 on which he would construct Drayton Hall. Born into one of South Carolina’s leading colonial families around 1715, Drayton is virtually absent from the public record until his purchase of the property. His wealth was facilitated by the institution of slavery. While no documents survive from this period to provide the exact number of enslaved individuals owned by John Drayton, he owned more than 100 commercial plantations totaling approximately 76,000 acres of land, and the figure is likely in the thousands.”

• 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.