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Photo: Henry Allen Tupper, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Organized around 1683; present site donated in 1699. Oldest Baptist church in the South, and often referred to as the "Mother Church of Southern Baptists".
First Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The congregation was founded in 1682 under the leadership of William Screven. It is one of the oldest Baptist congregations in the American South. The church congregation was originally organized in Kittery, Maine under the guidance of the First Baptist Church of Boston. In 1696 twenty-six congregants followed Pastor Screven and moved to Charleston after being pressured by the New England Congregationalist authorities. The relocated congregation became the First Baptist Church of Charleston. Pastor Screven recommended that any future pastor be "orthodox in faith, and of blameless life, and does own the confession of faith put forth by our brethren in London in 1689" declaring the church to be firmly Calvinist. First Baptist Church is currently affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination. The current Greek Revival sanctuary was designed by Robert Mills and built in 1820.
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Organized in 1731.
Colonial cobblestone lane built on a longitude line.
Organized in 1751.
Built in 1859 and believed to be the last slave auction market still standing in South Carolina. Now a museum.
A National Historic Landmark constructed in 1827 and believed to be the oldest building of fireproof construction in the United States. The work of Robert Mills, the first native-born American to be trained as an architect, and a Charleston native who worked with other important early American architects such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Latrobe. Mills was responsible for the Washington Monument and many other public buildings. The building consists primarily of solid masonry in a simple Greek Doric style. An oval hall contains a cantilevered stone staircase lit by a cupola. The building serves as the headquarters for the South Carolina Historical Society, a private non-profit organization founded in 1856.
This park sits at the southern tip of the Charleston peninsula with beautiful views, especially along the Battery Promenade by the Cooper River. Don't miss the elegant historic mansions along the Promenade, some of which have sold for nearly $20M.