Charleston SC Historic Churches

Circular Congregational Church
150 Meeting Street (843) 577-6400
The Circular Church remains a vibrant, diverse community. Visitors are welcome both to explore the grounds and to explore the faith in worship, ministry, and life in community. From its beginning 300 years ago to the present day, the story of Circular Church has been attached by muscle and sinew to the history of the city around it. The beauty and cultural vigor of antebellum Charleston were intensified in this church. Likewise the calamities and dogged endurance of this church put the trials of the city into high relief.

Congregation Beth Elohim
90 Hasell Street Charleston SC (843) 723.1090
The history of Beth Elohim is a heritage in which all American Jews can take pride. It is a story of faith, devotion, and perseverance in the American tradition of freedom of worship. Charleston was established in 1670, and the earliest known reference to a Jew in the English settlement is a description dated 1695. Soon thereafter other Jews followed, attracted by the civil and religious liberty of South Carolina and the ample economic opportunity of the colony. These pioneers were sufficiently numerous by 1749 to organize the present congregation Beth Elohim (Holy Congregational House of God) and, fifteen years later, to establish the now historic Coming Street cemetery, the oldest surviving Jewish burial ground in the South.

First Baptist Church
61 Church Street Charleston SC (843) 722.3896
First Baptist Church, Charleston, the earliest Baptist church in the South was organized on September 25, 1682 in Kittery, Maine, under the sponsorship of the First Baptist Church of Boston. Late in 1696, the pastor William Screven, and 28 members of the Kittery congregation immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina. Near this time, two groups of settlers came to Charleston, one from southern England and one from Scotland. The Baptists among these groups were soon drawn into William Screven's church. By 1708 he reported that the membership numbered 98. The present sanctuary building, designed by Robert Mills was completed in 1822.

First (Scots) Presbyterian Church
53 Meeting Street Charleston SC (843) 722.8882
The congregation was established in 1731 when twelve Scottish families separated themselves amicably from the Independent Meeting House (now the Circular Congregational Church). This separation allowed them to govern themselves according to the forms and discipline of the Church of Scotland as opposed to the congregational system. The present church built in 1814 displays the seal of the Church of Scotland in the window over the main entrance. The bells which the congregation voted to give to the Confederacy in 1863 were replaced in 1999.

French Protestant (Huguenot) Church
136 Church Street Charleston SC (843) 722.4385
The French Protestant Church of Charleston was founded in approximately 1681 by Huguenot refugees from the Protestant persecutions in France. About 450 Huguenots had settled in South Carolina's Low Country by 1700. The first Huguenot Church was built on its present site in 1687, but in 1796 was destroyed in an attempt to stop the spread of fire, which had burned a large surrounding area. The replacement for the original building was completed in 1800 and dismantled in 1844 to make way for the present Gothic Revival ediface, designed by Edward Brickell White and dedicated in 1845 The church was damaged by shellfire during the long bombardment of downtown Charleston in the War Between the States and was nearly demolished in the severe earthquake of 1886. The present building dates to 1845.

Grace Episcopal Church
98 Wentworth Street (843) 723-4575
When the English colony of Carolina was founded at Charles Town in 1670, the settlers were granted the right to worship in any church, unlike their contemporaries who settled in New England. The colonists who came here came to prosper on the bounty of the land. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Anglican Church in South Carolina had evolved into a strong Episcopal Diocese. By 1846, even though there were four Episcopal churches in the city, the growth of the population and a strong religous fervor led to the founding of Grace Church in the heart of the city. On February 16, 1846, Grace Church was admitted to the Diocese of South Carolina.

Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun Street Charleston SC (843) 722.2561
In 1791, the Free African Society, composed of both slaves and free Negroes, was formed in Charleston and later became known as the Bethel Circuit. In 1865, the church was reorganized and the present edifice was erected in 1891.

Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church
5 Glebe Street Charleston SC (843) 722.8118
This is the first brick church building owned by Blacks in Charleston. The building was purchased in 1882 by members of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church to alleviate the overcrowded conditions.

The Old Bethel Methodist Church
222 Calhoun Street Charleston SC (843) 722.3470
Old Bethel United Methodist Church is the third oldest church building surviving in Charleston. The church is an architectural reminder of the significant relationship between African Americans and the Methodist Church in Charleston. Methodists conducted extensive missionary work among African Americans in South Carolina, sometimes suffering persecution for their suspected abolitionist tendencies. Indicative of the Methodist Church's philosophy of encouraging black membership, Old Bethel was founded and paid for by both black and white citizens.

The Old St. Andrews Parish Church
2604 Ashley River Road Charleston SC (843) 766.1541
The grounds and church structure of Old Saint Andrew's Parish Church are a beautiful spiritual and aesthetic setting to get closer to God. Nestled close to the Ashley River and containing ten acres of land, Old Saint Andrew's property is comprised of a cemetery, an education building, and the main church building dating back to 1706, the oldest surviving church in South Carolina. Saint Andrew's Parish was one of ten parishes created by the Church Act passed by theColonial Assembly on St. Andrew's Day (November 30th), 1706. Construction of the building began that year, and over the west doors there is a plaque commemorating the date and first wardens.

St. John's Lutheran Church
5 Clifford Street Charleston SC (843) 723.2426
The St. John's congregation dates its origins to the 1742 arrival of Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the father of the Lutheran Church in America. He stopped for two days in Charleston on his way to visit the Salzburger colony at Ebenezer, Georgia. He returned a month later and spent three weeks waiting for a ship to Philadelphia during which time he held services, taught catechism to the children of the German residents, and held services with communion on Sundays. Two Georgia Salzberger preachers visited for a few days in 1753 and conducted services and gave the sacraments. Rev. John George Friederichs came in 1755 and organized the congregation. While it appears there were several educated and trained men conducting Lutheran services in South Carolina prior to this time, the organization of the congregation into a formal body and the hiring of a pastor seems to mark the beginning of Lutheranism in South Carolina (HSC).

St. Mary's Catholic Church
89 Hasell Street Charleston SC (843) 722.7696
St. Mary's Church represents the first established site of Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia. In 1788, the Rt. Rev. John Carroll (Prefect Apostolic of the United States) sent to Charleston the Rev. Matthew Ryan, a very pious Irish priest, who began the organization of a parish. Father Ryan remained nearly two years, but ill health obliged him to seek reassignment to Emmitsburg, Maryland. Near the end of 1789, Rev. Carroll appointed the Rev. Doctor Thomas Keating to replace Father Ryan. He permanently established the church. Father Keating named the parish St. Mary's in honor of the Mother of Christ. Prior to this, the church was simply known as the Roman Catholic Church of Charleston. Poor health also caused Father Keating to leave for Philadelphia, where he died of yellow fever on March 7, 1793.

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church
405 King Street Charleston SC (843) 723.1611
The second Lutheran congregation organized in Charleston in 1840 primarily for German-speaking settlers. The present Gothic building with its 297 ft steeple was erected in 1872 and as rebuilt following a devastating fire in 1965. Spectacular stained glass windows tell Bibical stories.

St. Michael's Episcopal Church
14 St. Michael's Alley (corner of Meeting & Broad Streets) Charleston SC (843) 723.0603
St. Michael’s Church is the oldest church edifice in the City of Charleston, standing on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia. In the 1680’s a small wooden church, the first in the new town of Charles Town, was built on this spot for the families of the Church of England, and named St. Philip’s. By 1727, the town had grown too large for the small church and a more spacious one was built of brick on Church Street, later destroyed by fire in 1835. By 1751, St. Philip’s had again proved too small for the increasing population, and another church as authorized by the General Assembly of the Province, to be built on the old site and to be known as St. Michael’s. The cornerstone was laid in 1752 and in 1761 the church was opened for services. Except for the addition of the sacristy in 1883 on the southeast corner, the structure of the building has been little changed.

St. Philip's Episcopal Church
142 Church Street Charleston SC (843) 722.7734
Founded in 1680 and located in the heart of Charleston, South Carolina, St. Philip's Church is a vibrant community of faith that confesses and proclaims the crucified and risen Christ and God's unconditional grace, love, and forgiveness for sinners. St. Philip's is a parish in the Diocese of South Carolina and a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Second Presbyterian Church
342 Meeting Street Charleston SC (843) 723.9237
Soon after the founding of Charleston, the community of Presbyterians, dissenters to the Church of England, worshiped together in the White Meeting House, a wooden edifice on Meeting Street. The congregation included English, Irish, Scottish, and Independent Presbyterians. In 1731, twelve families withdrew from the White Meeting House and established what is now the First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, modeled strictly on the Church of Scotland. This church grew rapidly. By the end of the century the building was inadequate to accommodate the worshippers and the necessity of a second Presbyterian church was realized. In 1809, fifteen men met and began planning for Second Presbyterian Church.

Unitarian Church in Charleston
8 Archdale Street Charleston SC (8430 723.4617
Charleston, with its abundance of churches, is rightfully called the "Holy City." Many of its places of worship are achitecturally noteworthy. The Unitarian Church is one of these places. It is the second oldest church in the city and is designated a National Historic Landmark. It is also considered one of our nation's finest examples of Perpendicular Gothic Revival style.

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