St. James Church, Santee, also known as St. James Episcopal Church, Santee, is a historic church located in a remote portion of

Francis Marion National Forest The Francis Marion National Forest is located north of Charleston, South Carolina. It is named for revolutionary war hero Francis Marion, who was known to the British as the Swamp Fox. It lies entirely within the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ...

Charleston County, South Carolina Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 408,235, making it the third most populous county in South Carolina (behind Greenville and Richland counties). ...

, United States. Built in 1768, it is a remarkably sophisticated expression of fashionable Georgian architecture in a remote area, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1970 for its architectural significance. It is located on the west side of the Old Georgetown Road, several miles north of

South Carolina Highway 46 South Carolina Highway 46 (SC 46) is a state highway in Jasper and Beaufort counties in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. It connects the rapidly growing communities of Hardeeville and Bluffton and serves as a parallel route ...

and

McClellanville McClellanville is a small fishing town in rural Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,040 at the 2010 census. It is situated on the Atlantic coast, on land surrounded by Francis Ma ...

. and

Description and history

In 1706 the

Province of Carolina Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...

formally established the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, which divided what is now South Carolina into six parishes. This parish church was built in 1768. It is rectangular single-story masonry structure, built out of brick and covered by a slate hip roof. The front and rear facades both have a gabled temple-front projection, supported by four round brick columns. The rear projection has had the spaces between the columns bricked up, creating what now serves as the church vestry. The building's windows are round-arched with keystones, with a three-part Palladian window in the eastern wall. The interior retains original woodwork and hardware, including

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...

s, pulpit, and trim. The pulpit originally stood at the northern end of the long axis, but was apparently moved to the eastern wall sometime in the 18th century. The church is one of a handful of surviving 18th-century country churches in South Carolina. It is unusual in this group because its styling is particularly sophisticated, reflecting architectural trends in Charleston at the time of its construction. The building was designated a

in 1970.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Episcopal Church, Santee, South Carolina National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina Anglican churches in South Carolina Churches in Charleston County, South Carolina Colonial South Carolina English-American culture in South Carolina Episcopal churches in South Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina Churches completed in 1768 National Register of Historic Places in Charleston County, South Carolina 18th-century Episcopal church buildings 1768 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies

Description and history

See also

References

External links