“Underneath the church? LOL. How did he manage that?”
You would be surprised at how small an opening a rat can squeeze himself thru. :)
In some parts of Florida, old wooden structures were constructed with a crawlspace between the floor and the soil. This allowed airflow beneath the structure and helped keep down moisture from the earth from collecting in the buildings wood and living space. Dosen’t eliminate problems, but keeps the mold and mildew growth down. Old “cracker” buildings also had high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and high peaked sheet metal roofs. High ceilings let the heat rise away from occupants, windows that opened high would help vent the space.
The sheet metal roof might seem an “unintelligent” choice, but in fact was a genius of design and function. During the heat of the day, the metal roof acts like a solar collector and becomes really hot. This extra heat causes an increased airflow above and beneath the metal and creates almost a breeze along the roof from the bottom to the top, again helping to ventilate the structure.
Pretty smart engineering for “dumb southern crackers”. They knew how to LIVE in the south.