Flags of all styles, periods, and various stages of decay are in this old civil war era cemetery.

This US flag was tied by threads to some wrought iron fencing.
Not sure, but I think this needs to hang somewhere.
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.
Down an alley on the busiest street in Charleston is the church yard for the Unitarian Church in Charleston. This was first a meeting house for the Society of Dissenters built in 1772.
The old grave yard is said to have been made for the ‘the living’ and is a heavily overgrown garden with benches. A quiet place in the middle of Charleston to this day.
It’s a favorite place for us to include in a walk. and of course photograph. This morning I looked at the flowers blooming around the old headstones for a few passing shots.
The Unitarian Church, Charleston, South Carolina.
Old St. Andrews Parish Church was one of the ten original Anglican parishes set in 1706. Prior to the American Revolution the church was a first parish of the Church Of England.
The parish was the main house of worship in a given area, sanctioned by the Church of England (King), with small Chapels of Ease in the outlying plantation areas. There are 20 published posts on this site with various chapels, search for ‘Chapel of Ease’.
St. Andrews is in Charleston, on what is called plantation row. Several of the first, and largest, plantations are on the same road, along the Ashley River.
This was the parish for all the large plantations.
Living not far from here we have passed by St. Andrews for years, it’s always a comment how we need to stop in.
The spring flowers bloomed, pulling Ellen in like a magnet.
Charleston, South Carolina.
Old Magnolia Cemetery is a Victorian / Gothic / Civil War cemetery. Absolutely unique, even hard to describe.
Sitting on the grounds of an old plantation nestled against a southern marsh people from all over the US visit to browse through the old wrought iron and headstones.
Even here there are a few things that stand out on their own.
Above is the Simonds Mausoleum, complete with a sarcophagus. Construction was completed in 1889. The family were traders, bankers, and of course political titans.
The Simonds were able to own and run banks through, and after the Civil War some how.
Baby Rosalie, the grave site, is well known with images published world wide.
The headstone is made to look like a baby carriage complete with Rosalie. A ‘death mask’, or plaster cast, of her face is protected from the elements since the 1880’s. Masks and mementos were common at the time.
There are 5 children, siblings, buried in this spot. Over all 18 family members are here.
From Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina.