Evening star., 1948-12-12
U. S. Highway II Taps Historic Area of East;
Charlest0n's Famed Gardens Lie on Route
Ante.Bellum Scenes
Live Amid Progress

CHARLESTON, S. G. Dec. IL
Charleston, the Lady by the Sea. has
once again taken her place as
top seaport of our nation and has
become an industrialized city of
modern times; but this new develop
ment in the life of the great port has
not dimmed the light of her fabu-
lous history nor marred the beauty
of the famous gardens.
During the Reconstruction days,
tourist began to come to see the
picturesque city of yesteryear-still
alive; but on the low side. They
marvelled at the centuries-old
churches, the quaint homes, tower
ing live oaks dripping Spanish
moss, historic sites and the gardens.
There were hundreds and then
thousands. Charleston wasn't too
keen about such attention, but 1t was
a new trade. She sacrificed some OF
hrr elegant pride and privacy to
recoup.
Today, after many years OF living
and recovering from wars, the Lady
Charleston is still, and even more so,
q center of tourist attraction and
mecca for artists and lovers OF
history, architecture and atmos-
phere.
Old Scenes at Hand.
Where else in the United States
will you find within walking distance
of a modern hotel: A slave market
where vegetables are now sold. in
spring churches with Seventeenth
Century graves, thick-walled homes
where pirates hid. wrought-iron
gates and fences which rival even
those of New Orleans famous
French Quarter, and the Dock
Street Theater, opened in 1875 as
the first in the United States?
Add to that the shady quiet OF the
marked paths which guide you to
these historic places and the lifting
speech of the Gullah (Negro) care
takers. Those are sights and sounds
of today, but, as you linger to look
and listen, the wind may whisper a
warning not to be surprised If
lady in crinoline, complete with
parasol, should stroll by with her
gallant young man.
There are many places in or
around Charleston that you will
want to visit for a second and third
time. This is true of the magnificent
gardens of the Low Country. Open
to the public for several months
each year, the gardens are at the
height of bloom usually in March
and April, when the famous camel
lias vie with 15-foot-high azaleas in
a blaze of color which no artist can
hope to capture on canvas.
Magnolia Gardens, Middleton
Place and Cypress Gardens are the
best known of the various falrylands,
and they exemplify the three dis
tinctive types-formal, informal and
the more modern lake.
Double Star" Site.
Magnolia Gardens, termed by
John Galsworthy the most beauti-
full In the world" and ranked by
Baedeker as one OF three double
star" sites in America, is laid out
around the historic Drayton home.
It is a 25-acre labyrinth OF azalea-
bordered paths along the curving
Ashley River. The tall azaleas-
running their exotic gamut from
snow white, through warmer Law
enders and coral. to blazing scarlet
grow among green lawns and SOM
ber, moss-hung cypress and live
oaks. Camellia japonicas, crepe
myrtle and climbing roses and
wisteria reflect their beauty from
the onyx surface of lagoons.
The first Handicapped garden IN
America was designed in 1740 at
Middleton Place when Henry
Middleton, who later became temp
orary president Of the first CONT
mental Congress, imported an Eng
lish landscape artist to plan the set
ting for his home. In front OF the
noW-restored house, the gardens rise
from the Ashley River in sweeping
terraces, at the foot Of which are
the paired Butterfly Lakes.
The chief charm OF Middleton
Place is its 18th century air OF ele-
gance and dignity. For 10 years
100 slaves labored to complete the
45-acre garden and 16-acre lawn.
Camellia japonicas, some 20 TO 81
feet high, form avenues OF req
white and pink, and a succession
of pools reflect the rich color. Chi
nese azaleas, the gingko, mimosa'
varnish and spice trees, besides
others, are found in this man-made
paradise. Middleton Oak, with
limbs as big as a good-sized tree,
is estimated to be 900 years old.
Unreal loneliness.
Cypress Gardens, north OF
Charleston, presents picture Of
unreal loveliness, with spectral,
moss -draped trees rising from lnky
water that mirrors bright-hued
azaleas. Open from the day after
Thanksgiving to May l, Cypress
was first viewed by the public IN
1880. Visitors have the choice OF
strolling or riding in rolling chairs
along miles of scented paths or
glldlng over Dreamy WdIeIS III soy
little boats, padded by Gullah-
speaking Negroes from the low
country.
Magnolia and Middleton Place
are on the way to Summerville and
q trip to this beautiful little city
Is well worthwhile Azaleas, camel
lias and myriad other blooms frame
small homes in pictures of indi-
vidual loveliness, the pride of the
amateur gardeners who own them.
Other gardens in the Charleston
area include Pierates Cruze, over
looking Charleston Harbor and Fort
Sumter; Runnymede Plantation,
featuring an alphabet avenue of
trees whose names begin with let
ters of the alphabet; Mateeba Gar