Four Seasons Of Photography At Landsford Canal State Park

The Simpson-Wise Home.
This home was built around the 1790s and was located near
Chester, South Carolina until 1979.
Under the care of the Chester Historical Society it was moved and
rebuilt at Landsford Canal State Park in 1980.

Greetings and Salutations, Yall!

My last official blog post for 2018 is a project this blogger has been working on for much of the year: photographs of Landsford Canal State Park and the Catawba River in all four seasons beginning in mid-spring and ending on the last day of 2018. 

Landsford Canal State Park is one of two South Carolina State Parks located in Chester County, bordered by the Catawba River. 

Historically Land's Ford is named for Thomas Land, an early European settler who received a nearby land grant from the British Crown in 1755. 

The Catawba River ford was used by both Patriot/Continental forces and British/Loyalist forces during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War in 1780-81. General Thomas "Gamecock" Sumter and his Patriot forces who crossed and camped here during the Battle of Hanging Rock in August of 1780. The British army of General Lord Charles Cornwallis retreating from Charlotte, North Carolina to Winnsboro, South Carolina following the defeat of Major Patrick Ferguson's Loyalists following the Battle of Kings Mountain in October of the same year. 

Following the American Revolutionary War, Major William R. Davie -- later the founder of the University of North Carolina -- built a home there. The well-preserved remains of the Landsford Canal built to bypass rapids on the Catawba River using slave labor between 1820 and 1825. The canal system bypassed several rapids making the river commercially navigable from 1820 to about 1840 before the coming of the railroad caused the canal to be abandoned.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Catawba River is home to the largest known stand of the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily, a flower species found predominantly in the Southeast. Peak bloom season for the rocky shoals spider lily is during late May and early to mid-June. 

In all seasons, Landsford Canal State Park and its beautiful views of the Catawba River attract thousands hikers, boaters, school and church field trips, and nature lovers each year. 

From May 30th to December 31st of this year, this blogger traveled to Landsford Canal State Park a series of six times to capture images of the Catawba River, the Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies in full bloom, various seasonal plants and animals, and the changing green of spring to the fall colors of autumn and finally the foggy river at the end of the year. Clear days and rainy days were both photographed, capturing the beauty of the park during all four seasons.

For your viewing pleasure, here are the photos taken in chronological order from spring to winter. 

Mid-Spring & Early Summer

Late Summer & Early Autumn

The American Five-Lined Skink
(Plestiodon fasciatus).
The juveniles are known commonly
as Blue Tailed Skinks.

The Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) also
known as a Writing Spider, or Corn Spider.

The Red Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata) is a beautiful
early autumn flower in the Carolinas.

Late Autumn

Early Winter

Holly bushes and berries.

I hope y'all enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them and posting them here for your viewing pleasure. If y'all are ever in upstate South Carolina, be sure to visit Landsford Canal State Park and check out these wonderful river vistas for yourself. 

With this, a project take up for much of the year is concluded and I can think of no better way of closing out 2018. 

Have a wonderful Dixie Day and a Happy New Year, Y'all!