Euhaw Baptist Church – Grahamville, South Carolina

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South Carolina  |  SC Picture Project  |  Jasper County Photos  |  Euhaw Baptist Church

The Euhaw Baptist Church in Grahamville is the second oldest Baptist organization in the South. It was originally established on Edisto Island in Charleston County in 1686 by Scottish dissenters. The church was a branch of First Baptist Church of Charleston until 1745 when the congregation broke off and became a seperate church. It then relocated to Grahamville in Jasper County.

Grahamville, which is less than a mile from Ridgeland, started out like many South Carolina small towns as just a village after the Revolutionary War. This area of our state is known as the ‘land of the Euhaws’ or ‘Indian Lands’ after native Indian tribes who once lived there.

Euhaw Church was very influential in the formative years of the Southern Baptist, and is the mother church to many area churches. The first president of the Southern Baptist Convention, William B. Johnson, was ordained at the Euhaw Church and even ministered there for three years.

When the Civil War broke out, Grahamville male residents left to fight and worship at the church was halted. Union troops who marched through the village set fire to most of the town including the original Euhaw Church. The church was rebuilt in 1905, but Grahamville never fully recovered from the destruction left behind. A railroad station was built in Ridgeland and Grahamville became just a rural community.

The old sanctuary that stands today was built in 1905 and is still used for special occasions. A new, more modern building built in 1985 is where worship is held regularly.

Many thanks to Mike Stroud of Bluffton for submitting this photo he took in October 2010.

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