Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Pineville Chapel

Pineville, SC 

In the mid to late nineteenth century, Pineville was a busy little village with as many as a hundred buildings, including an academy, racetrack, library, churches and homes. People were attracted by the pine trees and thought it was a cooler and healthy environment. 

Sadly most of the town was burned by Union troops at the close of the Civil War in April 1865. Following the war, much of the land that made up the village was converted for use as farmland. There is a sign leading to the Pineville Historic District but it is a few scattered of buildings. The main one is this beautiful chapel on Matilda Circle. 

Paying my respects in Pineville, SC

Maude Callen Clinic, Pineville, SC 

In December of 1951, W. Eugene Smith published a twelve page spread photo essay on the work of a nurse midwife in rural South Carolina named Maude E. Callen. The striking black and white photos showing her caring for laboring women and newborns in homes in Berkeley County caught attention and brought letters and donations from around the country. 

After the piece was published, LIFE subscribers from all over the country sent donations, large and small, to help Mrs. Callen in what one reader called "her magnificent endeavor." Thousands of dollars poured in — sometimes in pennies and nickels, sometimes more — until, as LIFE later reported, she was overwhelmed by the response." Halfway through a recent day's mail, [Mrs. Callen] said to her husband: 'I'm too tired and happy to read more tonight. I just want to sit here and be thankful.'"Eventually, more than $20,000 in donations helped to build a clinic in Pineville, where Mrs. Callen worked until her retirement in 1971.

The clinic is abandoned now but I had been meaning to track it down for some time. We stopped at a near by church and asked for directions. A friendly woman offered to lead the way and waved us into the clinic grounds. She then explained that Maude Callen had given her all her immunizations as a child and she had fond memories of her. Talking to her made the visit even more meaningful. 

I did have the name of the cemetery where she was buried but walked it back and forth without finding her tomb. 

More information here: 

Life Magazine Article on Maude Callen - Nurse Midwife
Photo Essay

Maude E. Callen Nurse & Midwife Born

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Pineville Chapel

Pineville Chapel, Pineville, S.C.

Here I am - taking you to church and it isn't even a Sunday. Surely I get extra points for that? I've heard two or three people lately joining the "church photo in lieu of attendance" club and I found us a sweetie this time. There isn't much left in what was historic Pineville.

Berkeley County’s wealthy planter class, wishing to avoid the fevers associated with their low lying plantations during the summer months, established inland settlements, particularly in areas wooded with pine trees, beginning in the late eighteenth century.

The Pineville Historic District is composed of four principal buildings, three residential buildings and one Episcopal church, ranging in date from ca.1810 through 1925. In the mid to late nineteenth century, Pineville was a densely-settled village that included as many as one hundred buildings, including an academy, racetrack, library, churches, and residences. Much of the town was burned by Union troops at the close of the Civil War in April 1865.