A longtime reader sent in this picture of a rusty bridge in South Carolina. Where is it? Bonus: Tell us something about the bridge that you find neat. Send your name, hometown and guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Our most recent mystery, “Sepia tones,” showed a really old picture of Roper Hospital in Charleston, S.C., back in 1861, which Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, wrote was the first community hospital in the state.
“Located on the corner of Queen and Logan streets in Charleston, it first opened in 1856 and was named after Colonel Thomas Roper (1760 – 1829), a former mayor of Charleston who left a bequest of $30,000 to the Medical Society of South Carolina (MSSC) to establish a hospital. The funds were to become available to build the hospital only after Colonel Roper’s only son, Robert William Roper (1790 – 1845), passed away, but only if he died ‘without issue.’
“It would seem that Colonel Roper was concerned that his bequest could be used as a motive to target his son’s life! When Robert Roper died ‘without issue’ in 1845, the funds were used to start construction of the hospital. At the time the mystery photo was taken, the hospital was being used as a prison for Union soldiers. Then in 1886, the most damaging earthquake to have ever occurred in the eastern United States struck the Charleston area, destroying the original Roper Hospital.”
Others who recognized the hospital were: Bill Segars of Hartsville; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Elizabeth Jones of Columbia; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Curtis Joyner of Charleston; and Truett Jones of Summerville.
- Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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