South Carolina - Old Sheldon Church

The South Carolina coast is simply one of my most favorite places. I've had the privilege of visiting Beaufort several times, and I find myself never wanting to leave the dreamy Spanish moss filled trees, the sprawling plantation homes, and the quaint down town. It's funny how some of the places that feel like home to me are not the places that house my belongings.

Our first visit to the area was in 2013. I had done some research, and knew before we left, that one of the places I wanted to visit was Old Sheldon Church. This visit, being our first, was a little busy but Josh and I still managed to sneak away the morning before we left, and drove to Yemassee. When we pulled up, I was in complete awe. In a break in the trees was a path marked by two brick pillars that lead directly to the church ruins. The light was early afternoon dreamy, and we were the only two people there. It was so surreal. To see Old Sheldon in pictures simply does not do justice to this beautiful and rather large piece of history. Josh and I took pictures of each other standing by the columns to show perspective. We walked the grounds for a little while, taking in the beautiful scenery and checking out the tombs and gravestones on the property and I felt like it was only appropriate to speak in whispers- like a library.

In the mid 1700's Old Sheldon was built, and the first service held there was in 1757. Just a little over twenty years later it was set on fire by British Troops during the Revolutionary War. It was rebuilt, using some existing walls in the 1820's, but burned down a second time in 1865 during the Civil War. The fire may have done damage, but it's been said that the inside was gutted for materials to help rebuild homes also set on fire at that time.

How amazing is it that it was set on fire not once, but twice! And the original walls are still standing! That's some incredible masonry work. I also find it amazing that even in ruins, it's a beautiful piece of history.

This place is a must-see in my opinion. I'd suggest going early to mid-morning before it gets to hot, and for the chance to enjoy it all to yourself. :)

Valentine's Day 2016

Ok. For Valentine's Day, Josh took me ghost town road tripping. We followed the advice from this list and went everywhere but LeHunt. http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kansas/kansas-ghost-towns/

Let me just say....

While we did see some really cool stuff, on a whole I was a tad disappointed. Most of these locations still had residents. Some still had quite a few residents. To me, when I hear the word ghost town I think completely empty; totally abandoned. I wasn't upset that we took the time to do this road trip, but if I'd known more, I may have just waited until we'd been up in the general area, anyway. There was an awful lot of dirt roads with not much to see in between.

Lost Springs

Like I was saying previously, this town was not really a "ghost town" although I'd seen it posted on some sites here and there. People still live there, but I don't believe they even had a gas station. I did capture a few photos, and got accompanied by a neighborhood dog for a moment. There was this amazing church there...

Burdick

Burdick was in between Lost Springs and Diamond Springs, and wasn't on the list, but we decided to check it out anyway. The schoolhouse there was AMAZING. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that these buildings aren't being restored.

Diamond Valley High School in Burdick

Diamond Valley High School

Close up of Diamond Valley High School

Diamond Springs

The beautiful photo on the link I shared above got me really excited for Diamond Springs. When we arrived, we saw this pretty awesome sign. This sign is probably the ONLY way we would have ever known there was an actually "town" there. The house with the rock walls was surrounded by cattle fencing, and hay bales which made getting a clear shot rather difficult. I was pretty bummed!

Elmdale

This was one of my favorite stops on this trip. Elmdale was established some time in the late 1800's and the ATSF (Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) Railroad built a line right through the town in 1871. The Great Flood of 1951 damaged homes, and I would go so far as to say it was the official cause of the decline of this town. The high school closed in 1967, and before we arrived there, I was expecting to find things in worse shape. It appears that the school gym may still serve a purpose for the people that live here, unlike the school in Burdick. The actual school building may have been converted into a residence. As seen in my photos, there is a sign that points to the school basement that declares it the community storm shelter. Like the school, the other empty buildings in this town seem to have stood the test of time, pretty well. There are still residents, in Elmdale. 

School Auditorium in Elmdale.

Community Storm Shelter Elmdale, KS

Elmdale City Hall 1936

United States Tires

Elmdale Bank 1898 

Santa Fe All the Way!

Elmdale Trading Post.

Bushong

The school in Bushong was a treat, and unexpected. Bushong was established in 1886, but at that time the town had a different name, Weeks. Weeks was birthed and thrived as well as it could, because of the railroad. The name change came after the success of the St. Louis Browns, in the 1886 World Series. Albert J Bushong was a catcher for the Browns. He was up to bat, when the runner on third stole home to clinch the World Series. There are a few limestone buildings that still appear to be in decent shape, and the town still has residents. 

In closing. seeing these historic towns was cool, but I still feel like I was a little misinformed. All of that aside, I loved the fact that my husband agreed to go road tripping with me for Valentine's Day. To me that was better than any chocolates, flowers, or jewelry.

Have any of you been to a ghost town? Where was it? Tell me about it!