Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Holy City - St. Philips Church


















St. Philip's Episcopal Church

A National Historic Landmark, houses the oldest congregation in South Carolina and was the first Anglican church established south of Virginia. This church is the third building to house the congregation, which was formed by Charles Town colonists. The first church, built in 1681, was a small wooden building located at the present site of St. Michael's Episcopal Church. In the early 18th century, the congregation built a second brick church at the site of the current church. It's construction was partially funded by duties on rum and slaves. After suffering from one fire that was extinguished by a black slave, who was given his freedom for this act, the church completely burned in 1835. The current St. Philip's was constructed from 1835 to 1838 by architect Joseph Hyde, while the steeple, designed by E.B. White, was added a decade later.

Many prominent people are buried in the graveyard, which is divided into two parts. The western yard was initially set aside for the burial of "strangers and transient white persons," but church members were later buried there. Several colonial Governors and five Episcopal bishops are buried here, as well as John C. Calhoun (former Vice President of the United States), Rawlins Lowndes (President of South Carolina in 1778-79), and Dubose Heyward (author and playwright). The view of Church Street punctuated by St. Philip's remains one of Charleston's most photographed spots.

Read more about this Church here

8 comments:

Jerry in Tampa said...

FABULOUS images Sue! Awesome tone and detail throughout! I'll be back!

Jerry in Tampa

S-V-H said...

Thank you so much, Jerry!

Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comment to my photos.

Bob Johnson said...

Susanne I love your images and the stories behind them rich in history, very cool.

S-V-H said...

Thank you so much Bob,

for your nice comment.

This town is really "heavy" in history, on every corner you connect with the big time they had here in the past.

Anonymous said...

a very beautiful set again

S-V-H said...

Thanks so much, evalhos!

myonlyphoto said...

Susanne these are cool photos, the trees are interesting too, I think this is going to be sub for palm trees. Very nice, Anna :)

BTW Susanne don't feel obligated to answer each of my comments, just as I fell behind and while I am here I usually feel obligated to leave a comment for each of your beautiful photo posts. :)

S-V-H said...

Hi Anna,

first: thank you so much for your nice comment.

And btw, I do answer EVERY comment on my blog - it is a sort of tradition, for me...LOL

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