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April 1865. Charleston, South Carolina. "St. Philip's Church with ruins of Circular Church and Secession Hall." Casualties of the Great Fire of 1861. Wet plate glass negative by George N. Barnard. View full size.
The Circular Congregational Church was eventually rebuilt-- in the 1890s. Apparently the ruins were simply left there for several decades until they were scavenged for bricks used to construct the Richardsonian Romanesque hulk which replaced the old church. Secession Hall, on the other hand, was never rebuilt.
The guy sitting on the wall has moved.
Must be from the other side of the church from where timeandagainphoto's pic was taken.
What a great series of post-bombadment photos, beginning with those of several months ago! History is often painful, but far more so when we see how we can hurt our own.
[As noted in the caption, these building were destroyed by fire four years before the photo as taken. - Dave]
Interesting "cutaway" or cross-section view of the brick chimney on the right, across the street. Without the low brick walls, the round church on the left would be a ringer for a railroad roundhouse.
I wonder if the woman is dressed in mourning, and if she is, is he mourning a recently deceased victim of the fire, or is she mourning a loved one previouly buried in the cemetery. I guess it could be a recent victim who was just buried.
[The fire was in 1861 -- four years before this photo was made. - Dave]
Below is the same view from June of 2010.
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