[ebooks] Union County (Images of America) by Peter Triggiani in Arts-Photography

Review

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Pictures Worth a Thousand Words. But Captions Are Just as ImportantBy Photo GeniePhoto lovers always enjoy "Images of America" volumes from Arcadia Publishing. a company producing excellent pictorial histories for many years. Its a pity that this particular one cannot be called excellent.Roughly 75% of the 190 photos in this book have not been previously published. whether in books. newspapers or on the Internet. This is the big plus of Triggianis work. However. the selection of some images has left me scratching my head. For example. 23 images are devoted to trains/railroads while the total number of portraits of Unions outstanding individuals is greatly disappointing. There are several images from places outside the countys bounds. and its regrettable that this space could not have been used for other rare Union County scenes. which are part of the Union County Historical Societys collection. (One wonders why there were no photos of Pinckneyville. for example. And why was the oldest church building in the city of Union omitted? Of course. I refer to the Episcopal Church of the Nativity. Instead the book has two almost identical views of First Presbyterian Church. one on page 62 and the other on page 72.) Twenty photos show Unions textile industry at its great height. and this chapter is the most pleasing because of the fresh images of almost all of the mills in the county. Other chapters (like the curiously titled "Wars. Local Patriots. and Personalities" "Music. Fire. Law. and Education") seem like nothing more than a jumbled conglomeration. There are some photos with scant accompanying text. and in fact. the exact locations of several pictures are not provided. leaving the reader to wonder which school. which part of the county. etc.This work would have benefited from both a careful editor and someone experienced with layout design. There are misspellings. grammar/capitalization mistakes. and awkward sentences here and there. It could have been better organized. in regards to the groupings of photographs.Sadly. there are factual errors as well. There are some misidentifications of people and places. the most glaring being a photo (page 125) of the first Union High School with a caption labeling it as the Central Grammar School. Both buildings are extant; a quick drive-by would have helped distinguish the two. On page 45. according to the author. Ernie Godshall died in 1918---an easy check of either death certificates or newspapers would show that it was the much older Eugene R. Godshall who died in that year.Just to set the record straight on a few other details:1. According to the Union Times newspaper edition of 17 August 1921. the Wallace Thomson Hospital opened its doors on 1 August 1921. not in 1911 as is stated on page 9 of this book.2. According to the Union Times newspaper edition of 23 February 1917. the Fairforest chapter of the DAR held its Washingtons Birthday tea on 20 February 1917. not 22 December 1917 as is stated on page 11 of this book.3. The steam engine seen on page 31 is operating a saw mill. not replacing a mule or horse plow.4. On page 80. the author asserts that the only remains of the B.U.C. locomotives are "their circular number plates. two of which are in the Union County Museums collection." If the author had looked a little more closely in that same museum. he would have also seen the big brass bell from one of the locomotives.5. The mill company store seen on page 113 is Monarch Mills Company Store.6. The correct spelling of the mill on page 109 is Ottaray.7. And on page 18. the identification should read "Oogie" instead of "Oggie."If only the author had reached out to other knowledgeable persons to avoid some of these disappointments.Despite its shortcomings. this book boasts some great images. many of which you can see in the Union County Museum. which is a far better museum than either the much larger and wealthier nearby counties (Spartanburg or Greenville) can claim.