Ruins of Charleston after the Civil War

07 Jan 2010 by Sean in Charleston Architecture

I found this old photo of what is described as a church ruin from Charleston following the American Civil War.

Photo ca. 1861, LOC

Most of the Civil War photography I’ve seen is mythologically glorified.  In my mind the war is a hazy fog of cannons and soldiers battling in the woods.

Obviously, the image in my mind is off base.  The war was a horror.

For me, this photograph illustrates a Charleston I can recognize.  There’s something about it that transcends the mythology of the War and the symbols I’m used to seeing—the reenactments, the brown signs on the highway, the historical markers—that lets me picture it in what’s probably a more accurate, albeit desolate, light.

See more archived photos at the Library of Congress website.