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Concrete City: A Builder's Legacy Preserved
29 Sep
Summary
- Builder L.C. Carson created 33 concrete skyscrapers in his yard.
- The collection, known as Concrete City, was moved to a museum.
- Preservation efforts continue to maintain the concrete sculptures.
Leslie Cosgrove Carson, known as L.C., spent 47 years as a contractor before embarking on a personal project in his Orangeburg County, South Carolina yard. Inspired by historical sites, he began creating scale replicas of famous buildings in the early 1970s. This endeavor grew into Concrete City, a unique collection of 33 waist-high skyscrapers crafted from ordinary building materials.
By the 1990s, Carson could no longer care for his creation, and it began to deteriorate. He donated the collection to the South Carolina State Museum, which undertook the complex task of moving and preserving the fragile concrete structures. The museum moved a test piece in 1996 and the rest in May 1998, the same year Carson passed away at 85.
Conservation work, guided by principles of minimum intervention, has continued for years, with some sculptures being fully recreated. Concrete City is recognized as an 'art environment,' a category of art spaces developed by self-taught artists on their property, which are often challenging to preserve. The museum's efforts ensure Carson's unique backyard project can inspire visitors for decades to come.
