The other day was the first time I was able to walk behind these two landmarks. They share a back iron gate that is always locked. This day it was open.

St. Johns Lutheran 1734

The front of the building is magnificent too. Like much of Charleston everything is close quarters and hard to photograph. It’s an old town. The back graveyard here gave me a whole new perspective.

Unitarian Church in Charleston 1772

Behind this church it is impossible to photograph. It’s a jungle, by design. Their graveyard is old trees, thick bushes, and benches to rest on…all off an old alley.

Charleston has a large number of churches sitting side by side. Shared graveyards is also common.

With the except of one, the church graveyards have been full for centuries. The old Magnolia Cemetery we shoot came to be as there was no other burial places except at the plantations on the edge of town. In the 1850’s a yellow fever pandemic hit Charleston and the idea of cemeteries, not church yards started. I would call this useless trivia, but that’s the kind of ‘stuff’ floating around my head.