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That old church in my town has a hidden inscription under the bell tower

Visited St. Mary's in downtown Charleston last Saturday. Got lost behind the main hall. Found a tiny door I never noticed before. Under the bell tower, someone carved initials and a date - 1742. That's before the church was supposedly built in 1750. Makes me wonder how many local buildings have secrets nobody bothered to check.
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4 Comments
the_claire
the_claire1mo agoTop Commenter
That 1742 carving means the church foundation might be way older than anyone recorded.
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wesley_jones
Found an old beam in my barn that had 1723 carved into it. County records only went back to 1850. Makes you wonder what else is hiding in plain sight around here.
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danielnelson
wesley_jones is spot on about things hiding in plain sight. I had a similar thing happen at my grandparents' old farmhouse - there was a date scratched into a floorboard under the linoleum that matched up with a town record from 40 years before the house was "built." Makes you wonder how many official dates are just made up.
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the_lee
the_lee1mo ago
So @the_claire is running an archeology side gig now on top of everything else.
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