Chapel of Ease – St. Helena Island, South CarolinaSouth Carolina | SC Picture Project | Beaufort County Photos | Chapel of Ease These tabby walls are all that remain of an old chapel-of-ease on St. Helena Island. The chapel was built in the mid-1700s. During South Carolina’s colonial era, plantations on St. Helena Island grew indigo and later, sea-island cotton.
© Megan Pearson of Edgefield (2012)
The primary parish church in Beaufort was too far away for planters and their families to attend church regularly, so the Anglican Church established this “chapel of ease” to make it easy for them to go to church. The US Army gained control of South Carolina’s sea islands early in the Civil War. Plantation owners were forced to abandon their land, leaving their slaves behind. The slaves found themselves in legal limbo – no longer enslaved, but not yet officially free.
© Barry Gooch of Port Royal
Northern missionaries and teachers came south and with support from the federal government, established what came to be known as the Port Royal Experiment – the country’s earliest efforts to educate and train former slaves to work outside of the institution of slavery. After the Civil War, the church continued to be used as an outpost by a variety of freedmen’s groups. A forest fire destroyed the building in 1886 and it was never repaired. The ruins were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
© Megan Pearson of Edgefield (2012)
© Barry Gooch of Port Royal
© Barry Gooch of Port Royal
© Michael Enloe of Aiken (2012)
Copyright: All images in the SC Picture Project remain the property of the photographer or artist.
You may not use them in any form without written consent. SCIWAY does not provide contact information for photographers. |
||||||
|
MOST POPULAR
SC Hotels
SC Real Estate
SC Jobs
ALL CATEGORIES
Abbeville
ACE Basin
Aiken
Allendale
Anderson
Awendaw
Bamberg
Barns
Barnwell
Beaufort
Bishopville
Blackville
Bluffton
Bridges
Camden
Charleston
Cheraw
Chester
Churches
Civil War Sites
Clemson
Colleges
Columbia
Conway
Courthouses
Denmark
Depots
Dillon
Easley
Edgefield
Edisto Island
Elloree
Eutawville
Florence
Folly Beach
Gaffney
Garden City Beach
Georgetown
Gowensville
Greenville
Greenwood
Greer
Hilton Head
Historic Houses
Historic Photos
Hopkins
Hunting Island
Isle of Palms
James Island
Kiawah Island
Kingstree
Lakes
Lake View
Lancaster
Lexington
Lighthouses
Little River
Manning
McClellanville
McCormick
Mills
Moncks Corner
Mt Pleasant
Mullins
Murrells Inlet
Myrtle Beach
Newberry
Ninety Six
North Augusta
North Charleston
North Myrtle Beach
Orangeburg
Parks
Pawleys Island
Pendleton
Pickens
Piers
Plantations
Port Royal
Post Offices
Ridgeway
Rivers
Rock Hill
Saluda
Savannah River Site
SC Heroes of the Alamo
Seneca
Shrimp Boats
Spartanburg
St Matthews
Sullivan's Island
Summerton
Summerville
Sumter
Town Clocks
Trees
Ulmer
Union
Wadmalaw Island
Walhalla
Walterboro
Waterfalls
Westminster
Wildlife
Winnsboro
Yemassee
|
||||||
|
SCIWAY . . . "sky-way" . . . South Carolina's Information HighWAY © 2013 SCIWAY.net, LLC All rights reserved. |
4 Comments about Chapel of Ease
April 18th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
I love this place. It is so beautiful. I have visited it many times. Anyone who wants to visit, just make sure you wear long pants and closed toed shoes. The “nettles” are killers.
February 26th, 2013 at 11:15 am
Can someone please tell me how to get in touch with the owner of this property?
July 25th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
I’m looking for the slave owners of my fathers family, their last name is Hill.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:29 am
i love this. beautiful.
Comments