"Peeling Back the Past"

Part of the charm of a place where people have lived for so long is finding evidence of those who have come before. I think that my favorite find in this article is the message from the German POWs – read on for the whole story!

"Imagine a day 200 years from now, when earnest anthropologists start combing the hallways, garages, and kitchens of 'historic homes' once occupied by folks who packed Lowe’s charge cards and pored over Restoration Hardware catalogues. Why, they’ll wonder, did they cover up these pink and black tiles? How, they’ll muse, did stainless steel become such a rage? They’ll ponder motivations as they chip away at fake parquet.

Indeed, the structures in which we live have many secrets to tell. And it’s this wealth of knowledge—these glimmers of the past—that attract so many of us to the historic buildings that grace Charleston. Once-modern life is now revealed, if only in whispers and echoes, as we dig up gardens and pull up and repair old floorboards.

What follows is a patchwork quilt of treasures revealed in a handful of old buildings and yards. These secrets rested, sometimes for more than a century, in the nooks and crannies of walls, floors, even trees. As one local anthropologist noted, Charleston is full of such untold stories: 'You can scarcely walk down a sidewalk without kicking up something old and interesting.'"

For the full Charleston magazine story: http://charlestonmag.com/feature1.html