MYSTERY PHOTO:  Looks like something under construction

This is obviously a construction site.  Hint: It’s in South Carolina. But where … and what 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 Dec. 31 mystery, “Is it a castle?” should have been easy for people who walk around old Charleston.  It wasn’t a castle, but a close-up photo of the Circular Congregational Church at 150 Meeting Street.

We got a lot of correct identifications from photo detectives around the city and region. Congratulations to:  George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; Linda Ketner, Freida McDuffie, Susu Ravenel and Stephen Yetman, all of Charleston; Paul Hedden and Archie Burkel, both of James Island; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Katharine Beard of Camden; Deborah Getner of Johns Island; Bruce Jayne of Saluda, N.C.; and Bud Ferillo of Columbia.

Segars provided more context: “The congregation was established in 1681 and this Richardson Romanesque building was completed in 1892.  It was designed by Robert S. Stephenson & Ernest S. Greene. Henry Oliver built it using many of the brick from the 1806 third building that burned.  This building and the Parish House was listed in the National Register Nov. 7, 1973.”

Graf sent along some interesting information on two noted people buried in the church’s graveyard, according to the church:  Arthur Peronneau (died 1774) and Richard Hutson (d. 1795). Perroneau may have been the first person to have been buried in the large brick vault in the center of the cemetery, while Hutson, his brother-in-law, may have been the most famous.  He was Charleston’s first mayor, according to this website.

• 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.