52 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com occupied much of this region, sometimes pillaging and burning entire villages in their wake. During the Civil War, Confederates battled against Union soldiers, ruthlessly killing one another in the name of states’ rights and slavery. Over the last century, wealthy Northerners descended here, purchasing dilapidated plantation homes and renovating them into elegant hunting lodges in which to entertain illustrious friends. Just 30-45 years ago, our neighboring Georgetown was so rampant with tales of haints, hags and plat eyes that it became renowned as the “Ghost Capital of the South.” Let these legends speak for themselves and then make your own inferences. These might make you do a double take next time. Take for example the trendy “haint blue” we see painted on countless porch ceilings around the Lowcountry. This timeless tradition, according to local historian Paige Sawyer, dates back to the plantation era when the enslaved applied patches of indigo around the door of their cabins in the belief that the color would confuse and thus prevent evil spirits from entering their dwellings by way of the air or waterways reflecting the blue sky. Then there’s the Prince Frederick Church, a Gothic Revival style structure constructed between 1859-1876 and located off a now obscure road in Plantersville several miles outside of Georgetown. After the Civil War ended, tithes dried up and emancipation left no one to work the land or maintain the grounds. Consequently, the abandoned building fell into disrepair. Now only the facade of the church remains, casting eerie shadows through the silent forest and across the adjacent graveyard. Prison-like security fences ensconce the property, preventing tire kickers from sneaking onto the property to desecrate tombstones and steal bricks from the ruins to take home as souvenirs. BLOOD BROTHERS The site, also known as Old Gunn Church, named after its two architects and builders, brothers Philip and Edward Gunn, is, according to acclaimed author and tour guide at Hopsewee Plantation Elizabeth Huntsinger, “The site of very strange and eerie occurrences.” In her book “Haunted Georgetown,” Huntsinger said, “Many believe that one of the Gunn brothers (it is not clear which), who tumbled to his death while building the church, still haunts the grounds and Georgetonians have told of seeing lights moving in the totally inaccessible upper portion of the tower during the night. Others have heard the bloodcurdling, horrible scream of Gunn as he relives his fatal fall” (See Huntsinger’s “Haunted Georgetown,” Page 77).
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