Features, Mystery Photo

MYSTERY PHOTO: Not The Citadel (again)

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Here’s another structure that looks like a fortress.  What is it and where?  Send your guess to feedback@statehousereport.com — and remember to include your name, home city and contact information. 

Last week’s mystery, “Archway,” showed a short tunnel that people can go in and out of the Cistern Yard in front of Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston.  

Congratulations to these readers from all over who correctly identified it:  Daniel Prohaska of Summerville; Robert Ariail of Camden; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Will Williams of Aiken; Jacie Godfrey of Florence; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Elizabeth Jones and Jay Altman, both of Columbia; Thomas Jacobsen of Sitka, Alaska; Elaine Huff-Lowe of Inman; and Henry Eldridge of Tega Cay.

Graf explained that the George Street archway was part of the Porter’s Lodge at the College of Charleston:  “The building was constructed in 1850-51 during renovations and additions that re-oriented the college’s main building towards George Street. Prior to these additions, this side of the campus had been a space for privies and a firehouse. After the lodge was constructed, the college janitor was asked to keep his firewood and laundry out of the main alcove and to get rid of a cow that grazed Cistern Yard. 

“The former backyard, now enclosed by a fence rather than a wall, was further transformed by the attractive proportions of the Porter’s Lodge, with arched entryways and iron gates.  Today, faculty offices occupy the top floor of Porter’s Lodge, but these rooms were originally living quarters for a custodian, or “porter,” in the parlance of English universities that the college wished to emulate.”

  • Send us a mystery. 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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