St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Charleston, South Carolina)

St. Philip's Church is an historic church at 142 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It was formerly an Episcopal church, but it is currently a parish of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, in the Anglican Church in North America. Its National Historic Landmark description states: "Built in 1836 (spire completed in 1850), this stuccoed brick church features an imposing tower designed in the Wren- Gibbs tradition. Three Tuscan pedimented porticoes contribute to this design to make a building of the highest quality and sophistication." On November 7, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.
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History

Established in 1680, St. Philip's is the oldest European-American religious congregation in South Carolina. The first St. Philip's Church, a wooden building, was built between 1680 and 1681 at the corner of Broad and Meeting streets on the present day site of St. Michael's Episcopal Church. It was damaged in a hurricane in 1710 and a new St. Phillip's Church was begun a few blocks away on Church Street. After being delayed it was finished in 1723. It burned to the ground in 1835. Work on the present church was begun that same year and completed the next. The steeple was added between 1848 and 1850.

A prominent early rector of St. Philip's was Rev. Thomas Frost, a fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, who became rector of St. Philip's in 1785. Leading the church in the post-Revolutionary War period, he had to create a new role after Anglicanism was disestablished in the United States. Rev. Frost died in 1804 at 46 years of age. Rev. Thomas Downes Frost, son of the first rector Frost, was chosen as assistant minister of St. Philip's on March 12, 1815. The second Rev. Frost died an early death at age 26 in 1819.

Henrietta Johnston, the wife of another early rector, Gideon Johnston, became the first recorded female artist in the American colonies. Mary Roberts, the first female American miniaturist, was connected to the church and buried here in 1761, as recorded in the register.Saunders, Richard H. and Ellen G. Miles. ''American Colonial Portraits · 1700-1776''. Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987. pp. 94-97, p. 163

The tower of St. Philip's served for many years as the rear tower of a set of range lighthouses serving to guide mariners into Charleston's harbor; the front tower of the range was located on Fort Sumter. The light was used from 1893 to 1915. The use was restored temporarily in 1921 when the normal light needed repairs.

The church was the site of a convention on November 17, 2012, which sought to legitimize the disassociation of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina from The Episcopal Church, and to amend the diocesan constitution and canons to remove all references to the Episcopal Church. (November 17, 2012). Diocese of South Carolina. As a result, the title to the building was disputed between the Anglican Diocese and the Episcopal Diocese.

On 17 August 2022, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the property rights of six parishes, including St. Philip's Church, of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, who will be able to keep them because of this decision.

File:Alexander Christie House, South of Broad, Charleston, SC (49550209857).jpg, The Alexander Christie House (ca. 1805) has served as the rectory of church since 1908
File:St-philips-episcopal-charleston-sc2.jpg, The building's steeple is adorned with clocks
File:St. Philips Church Charleston SC.jpg, The interior of the church
File:St. Philip's West Graveyard.jpg, alt=A photograph showing a view of the West Graveyard of St. Philip's Church, The West Graveyard of St. Philip's Church
File:St. Philip's Church and Graveyard, Charleston SC.jpg, Graveyard in proximity to Church

Notable burials

Notable burials in the church graveyard include:

* John C. Calhoun, seventh vice-President of the United States.
* Captain John Christie, 60th OR Royal American Regiment, and Founder and First Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 1 at Detroit, Michigan.
* Judith DuBose, colonial heiress
* Christopher Gadsden, a signer of the Continental Association.
* Judith Smith Ladson, colonial society figure
* Charles Pinckney, US Senator, Governor of South Carolina, and a Signer of the United States Constitution.
* Edward Rutledge, Continental Congressman and a Signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and Continental Association

See also

*National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina
*List of National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina
* St. Philip's Church

References

Further reading

*

External links

*
St. Philip's Church websiteSt. Philip's Church history
including 9 photos, at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Historic Landmarks Program listing for St. Philip's ChurchHistoric Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel ItinerarySaint Philip's Church - Charleston, South Carolina
includes photos and history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philip's Church, Charleston, South Carolina
National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina
Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina
English-American culture in South Carolina
Churches in Charleston, South Carolina
National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina
19th-century Episcopal church buildings
Historic district contributing properties in South Carolina
Anglican Church in North America church buildings in the United States
Former Episcopal church buildings in South Carolina
Anglican realignment congregations
19th-century Anglican church buildings in the United States