Charleston, South Carolina is one of the most historic towns/cities in the US. The Circular Church was at the start, and in middle of just about every event that has happened here. The title here has three dates, time and history has not been kind to the congregations.
The first church was built 100 years before the founding of the US. The congregation was known as the ‘church of the dessenters’.
The first formal building was damaged by the British Siege of Charleston. It was hit by cannons from the blockade war ships.
Over time there were hurricanes and fires. Ultimately the US Civil War almost destroyed the entire area. The church was just a shell. After the war Charleston was hit with the largest recorded earthquake in the US (the epicenter almost runs through my backyard 😳).
The current building is similar to the pre-civil war structure and is built with the salvaged materials and brick from the 1860 design, completed in 1890.
Inside the walls has seen many famous events also. The iconic hymn ‘Saving Grace’ was written in the sanctuary. The church is known for its civic responsibilities. They founded the American Bible Association helping to standardize the structure, run a hospice, is an Amnesty International site, the list goes on…
The church is only open for Sunday services and special events. We attended one prior to moving here and learned a tremendous amount of the local history.
Circular Church, Meeting Street, Charleston, South Carolina.
Interesting to learn about, and an impressive structure!
I was looking for an old photograph of the church from the Civil War. That’s another amazing thing to me, the number of photos taken in town during the war. Not like everybody had a camera back then.
I guess people have always liked to keep a record of things and events of importance to them.
Any Matthew Brady or other photographers of note who photographed the area. And it goes to show, there have always been tourists as well.
There were a lot of early photographers around here during the war. There’s a huge photo archive in one of the colleges in town. There’s are a few places where you can walk on the sand and look right at Fort Sumter. I was out shooting with friends one day, walked through a parking lot, found some sand and a concrete marker. It was the exact location of the first canon shot into Ft Sumter and the start of the Civil War lol. There have been many old photos from there.