Charleston (South Carolina) Sights: Historic Places of Worship

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Charleston is known as the Holy City because it provided religious tolerance to many who fled persecution, including the French Huguenots, Church of England dissenters, and others. The first places of worship organized in the late 17th and early 18th century were located around the old walled town, the present French Quarter . As the town grew outward, later places of worship were mainly located towards the upper wards north of Boundary Street, the present Calhoun St. Colonial Charleston was the wealthiest English town in America, which is reflected in the sophisticated religious architecture www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/charleston/architecture.htm dotting the historic peninsula.

• Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. www.circularchurch.org/index.cfm Congregationalists, Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, and French Huguenots of the original settlement of Charles Town founded this dissenting congregation, known as the Independent Church, around 1681. They met at the White Meeting House, for which Meeting Street is named.
• French Huguenot Church, 44 Queen St. (at Church St.) www.frenchhuguenotchurch.org Organized around 1681 by Huguenot refugees from the Protestant persecutions in France; first church at present site built in 1687.
• St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 146 Church St. www.stphilipschurchsc.org/spce/history. Organized around 1681 at site now occupied by St. Michael's.
• First Baptist Church, 61 Church St. www.fbcharleston.org Organized around 1683; present site donated in 1699. Oldest Baptist church in the South, and often refered to as the "mother church of Southern Baptists".

• First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, 53 Meeting St. www.first-scots.org/index.html Organized in 1731.
• Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, 90 Hasell St. (near the Old Market), www.kkbe.org. Organized in 1749. The oldest surviving Reform synagogue in the world.
• St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 71 Broad St, www.stmichaelschurch.net. Organized in 1751.
• St. Mary's Catholic Church, 89 Hasell St. Organized in 1789. Oldest Catholic church in the Carolinas.
• Trinity United Methodist Church, 273 Meeting St. www.trinityumccharleston.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=42611&PID=593896 Organized in 1791.

• Second Presbyterian Church, 342 Meeting St. www.secondpresbyterianchurch.org/LivingHistory/200YearsofCommunity.html Organized in 1809.
• Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, 120 Broad St. www.catholic-doc.org/cathedral/history.htm Organized in 1821.
• St. Matthews Lutheran Church, 405 King St. www.smlccharleston.org Organized in 1840.
• Citadel Square Baptist Church, 328 Meeting St. (at Calhoun St.) www.citadelsquare.org/about/our-history Organized in 1854.