I first photographed the Lone Star Benevolent Society Hall in January 2022 with my friend Brian Brown. When I visited Waynesboro last week, I drove by to see how it looked. Much to my dismay, the hall had collapsed. I know Burke County did experience significant damage from Hurricane Helene. I could not find any information about its demise.
It was a contributing property to the Waynesboro Historic District. The image below is from the National Register of Historic Places nomination packet.
Ezekiel Congregational Methodist Church has captured the eye of many photographers over the years. For all who passed it, people would wonder how it was still hanging on.
An online friend mentioned it had fallen. Oddly, there was no mention in the newspapers, and according to this image by Paul Peel on Google Maps, it’s been down for at least two months. (Thank you for sharing!)
Updated to add: Someone who lives near the church said it was bulldozed.
Over the years, Clemson fans likely got a glimpse of the Sally Rose mansion through the trees. Located on Clemson Boulevard, the mansion will soon be lost to development. The home was built in 1948 for Sally Abney Rose, daughter of the founder of Abney Mills.
The home sat vacant for years, and eventually, vandals took over. They’ve spraypainted the walls, plus significant other types of damage.
The home will live on in history. There is a miniature at the Anderson County History Museum.
I photographed this I-House, also known as a plantation plain, in August 2020. As I was driving home today and avoiding the interstate, I caught a glimpse of the house and realized it had been lost to fire.
The only information I can find on the home is that it was built in the 1880s. I suspect it might be earlier than that.
Pelzer Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1896 with Gothic Revival influence. In 1905, the church added a two-story, five-sided building for Sunday school. The Sunday school design is inspired by the “Akron Plan,” which divided up the different Sunday school classes in an efficient manner. Many Protestant churches adopted it, but it fell out of favor in the early 1900s.
It was placed on the National Register in 1996.
The congregation was founded in 1868 by freedmen and women of Troup County, Georgia. Initially, they met under a bush arbor. The church was built in 1906. An active church, baptisms were held in the nearby creek until recently, according to this article in the LaGrange Daily News.
I believe the wooden structure is a school since the history of the church states their first church building was built at the turn of the century. It also resembles the many one room schoolhouses that dot Georgia’s landscape.
The cemetery contains a mixture of prefabricated and handmade markers. It also includes at least two Eldren Bailey markers.
I believe this marker was made in the likeness of the church.
There were several markers in the cemetery that a similar angel and crown motif.
This marker contains the addition of P, 8, and S to the crown and wings. I am uncertain what means.
This marker did not have a name, but I was intrigued that the star was on the front and back side of the marker.
This is one of the Eldren Bailey markers in the cemetery.
