Girls in Swamps

Martin Munkácsi, [Woman sitting on tree stump, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina], 1937

Martin Munkácsi, [Woman sitting on tree stump, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina], 1937

Munkácsi Martin, [Woman sitting on tree stump, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina], 1937

Martin Munkácsi, [Women sitting on tree stump, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina], 1937

Martin Munkácsi, [Woman on boat, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina], 1937

I really wish these 4 x 5 glass plate negatives were in color (Autochromes or Technicolor perhaps). The Cypress Gardens are here: 3030 Cypress Gardens Rd., Moncks Corner, South Carolina (Phone: 843-553-0515).

The history of The Cypress Gardens South Carolina dates back to the founding of Berkeley County, when the county was established by the Lord’s Proprietors.
The land was first settled by the Nesbitt family in the 1700s. In later years it became a very successful rice plantation, one of the largest on the Cooper River. After the Civil War and several hurricanes, it became impossible to continue the rice production and the plantation fell into disrepair.
In 1909 Benjamin Kittredge, a wealthy businessman from New York, purchased the property. Together with his wife, they planned and developed the water forest into a magnificent swamp garden. The Kittredge’s opened The Cypress Gardens to the public in 1932. In 1963, the Kittredge family donated the property to Charleston county to be used as a public park.