St. Philip’s Church – Charleston, South Carolina

Established in 1680, St. Philip’s Church is home to the oldest congregation in South Carolina. The current church, located at 146 Church St in Charleston‘s French Quarter, was completed in 1838 and is the third to serve its congregation.

The first church was a modest, wooden building constructed in 1681 on the present-day site of St. Michael’s. With the congregation growing, a larger brick church was authorized on the current site in 1710. It wasn’t completed until 1723 due to Indian wars and damage from hurricanes. This church would house the congregation for over a century, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1835. Work on the present church began later that same year.

After the fire, the congregation moved into its temporary home in the Tabernacle at Cumberland Street Methodist Episcopal Church. It remained there until 1838, when its new church was finished. The steeple, designed by noted architect Edward Brickell White, wasn’t completed until over a decade later, in 1850.

Several notable South Carolinians, including governors Charles Pinckney and Edward Rutledge, are buried in the St. Philip’s cemetery. In 1973 St. Philip’s was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.