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1865. "Charleston, South Carolina. View from roof of Orphan Asylum. The Citadel in middle distance." From photographs of the Federal Navy and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy, 1863-1865. Wet plate glass negative, half of stereo pair, photographer unknown. View full size.
"Church off to the right" isn't the one in the pic. The one there today is Citadel Square Baptist Church. The one in the older pic IS still there, but it's off the short park in the upper right, out of view. Park is called Wragg Square. Forget the church's name.
Marion Square was the parade grounds for Citadel cadets. They were involved in the attack on Fort Sumter. Is this a spy pic or something?
Roofs were so much more interesting in the 19th and early 20th century--dormers, chimneys, peaks and valleys everywhere...
After the Citadel moved closer to the river, others took over the premises - here is a view today. Looks like one building got an additional story - the church off to the right is still standing, but little else remains from that era.
That's Marion Square on the right; home is three blocks away. The windows are open because the air's like hot soup in the summer. That's really something.
I'm wondering about the group of people too. It almost looks like they're sitting at a table. In the three-story building below and left of them, you can see a bed in the window.
Amazing brick work on some of those places.
Clearly a very warm day, with all the windows open.
I wonder who the group of people is there on the right? There are certainly some children and adults.
Is that an observatory on the near corner of the Citadel?
Not one ad. No billboards. How did people live like that back then?
I'm struck by the number of thrown-wide-open windows in this photo. Catching a breeze and whatever else wafted in with it, I suppose.
Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska
It's really quite amazing to look at how much we managed to accomplish without the use of toilets, cars, phones, computers, TVs, radios, movies, the Internet, or even hot showers!
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