Gardens and Graveyards of the Southeastern Seaboard: A Photographic Journey

by Henry Clay Childs

A photographic venture down the early coastal South, this book wends its way through hallowed ground and long forgotten places, flowering celebrations of life and historical remnants of dreams both dashed and realized. With minimal text, the images convey the essence of what may still be found along the way, and yet only hint at the full history of each location. Both a voyage of discovery and a celebration of effort, both current and long lost.

Genres: Travel, History, Architecture

130 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The lure of silent places -- gardens can be as tranquil as graveyards -- leads each of us more easily to reflection and remembrance, revelation and joy." That sentiment inspires this gorgeous full-color photo book. Every page is graced by a 7 x 9-inch photo, which reproduces a rainbow of greens and grays, highlighted with bright flowers.

On his travels between Popes Creek, Virginia and Cumberland Island, Georgia, Childs stopped off to visit the only unaltered American colonial church, graves of the earliest European settlers as well as George Washington's ancestors, graveyards of villages abandoned after the Civil War, and the elegant cemeteries of Savannah.

Childs saw a graveyard anywhere dreams were buried and a garden wherever flowers bloomed, so there's a great deal of fluidity in this definitions. This book will delight anyone who takes pleasure in beauty, whether they've previously been cemetery aficionados or not.

This review was originally published on Gothic.Net in November 2001.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely places.