Charles Duckett (1860-1947) was a prominent businessman in Laurens, South Carolina. He owned multiple businesses, most notable were a funeral home and lumberyard. He was considered one of the most successful Black lumberyard owners in the South. This Eastlake style home is in need of some serious love, though. It was hard to photograph, but a tree has fallen on the left side of the house. There was a fundraiser listed in 2020, but I couldn’t find any other info on future plans.
The Echo Theater was built in 1910. Like many theaters in the Jim Crow South, it was segregated. In 1996, it became the site of the Redneck Shop and the world’s only KKK Museum. Protests ensued, but the shop and museum were allowed to stay open.
Local minister and activist Rev. David Kennedy befriended one of the theater’s owners, Michael Burden, who lost his apartment inside the theater. Burden eventually denounced his beliefs and sold the theater to Kennedy for $1,000. Unfortunately, the other owner would not leave the premises until years later after the court ordered him to do so.
The site is now known as the Echo Project, where it will eventually evolve into a museum and diversity center. It has been designated an International Site of Conscience, a place that promotes the history of a site and “justice and a culture of human rights.”
At the moment, there is no projected date of opening.
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.
The Lewdy Blakely House is an I-House (plantation plain) built approximately in 1860. The columns and porch were added in the 1880s to give the Greek Revival details.
According to the 1860 Slave Census, Blakely enslaved five people. There were several extant structures I could see in the backyard. I do not know the provenance of the structures and was unable to get a decent photograph of them.
I photographed this dog trot on 441 just outside of Dublin, Georgia, in March 2023. Unfortunately, a tree has fallen on it (likely the wisteria-covered one in this photo), and it is seriously damaged.
