The project was abandoned and the parishioners marched off to war. That order had not yet arrived when the Civil War broke out in 1861 and, in fact, never did arrive. When construction finally began, it aimed to create a magnificent gothic structure with the very finest of materials, and the congregation ordered its finery and adornments from all the best places in Europe. In 1834 Reverend Hugh Fraser donated land for a new church on the riverbanks, but yet some foot-dragging ensued for another decade or so. In its humble beginnings, the congregation met in a small wooden building, clearly not grand enough for such prominent citizens and certainly no match for the Prince George Parish in Georgetown. The Prince Frederick Parish, named for the Prince of Wales, was formed in 1734 and consisted of the land between the Black and the Pee Dee rivers, an area populated by wealthy plantation owners and prominent citizens. And from the looks of its crumbling remains, even its demolition was a complete and dismal failure. Prince Frederick’s Episcopal Chapel just outside Georgetown was seemingly doomed from the outset. In the final stages of completion he fell to his death from the roof, and thereafter he has walked around in the belfry on moonlit nights, occasionally accompanied by the choir singing from the cemetery. Old Gunn was the contractor who finished the job on a project that had languished during the Civil War and was not resumed until 1876. The fragmented ruins have become a huge Halloween destination, and a fence had to be erected in recent years to keep out droves of ghost hunters, thrill seekers, and graffiti artists. People in the area may not be able to give you directions to Prince Frederick’s Chapel but they can tell you in a heartbeat where to find the Old Gunn Church.
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