St Phillip's Episcopal Church
142 Church Street
St. Phillip's is a really cool church in Charleston for two reasons. First, the church sticks out into the street so they had to build the street around it, and second, the church is built in the only area in Charleston that is 3 feet above sea level.
St.
Phillip’s was established in 1680. It
was originally built where St. Michael's stands today and is the oldest
congregation in South Carolina. It
was the first Anglican Church to be established south of Virginia. The present
church is the third building to hold the congregation, which was formed by
Charles Town colonists. The first church, built in 1681, was a small wooden
building at the corner of Meeting and Broad streets. In the early 18th century,
the congregation built a brick church on Church Street.
That building completely burned in 1835. The current St. Philip's
was constructed from 1835 to 1838 by architect Joseph Hyde. The steeple,
added ten years later, was designed by E.B. White .
The church was damaged during the Civil War, when the steeple was used
for sighting during Union bombing of the city. Like with many churches,
the bells from the steeple were melted to make Confederate cannons.
Several
famous people
are buried in the graveyard, which is divided into two parts. The western yard
was originally set aside for burying "strangers and transient white
persons," but church members were later buried there. Several colonial
Governors and five Episcopal bishops are buried at St. Phillips, 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).