View allAll Photos Tagged charlestonsc
By 1865, St. Matthew's had outgrown the Hassell Street location due to the large number (5,000) of German immigrants who had made their home in Charleston. The congregation of St. Matthew's purchased a lot in 1867 at the corner of King and Vanderhorst Streets - our current location- at a cost of $12,000. J.H. Devereaux was chosen as the architect, and the first monetary donation for the soon-to-be new church was $100, given by then Governor William Aiken.
In an unprecedented ecumenical show of support, St. Matthew's received contributions from throughout the city - from people of all faith traditions. The present location's cornerstone was laid in December of either 1867 or 1869 (the early German handwriting has been a challenge to consistently decipher!) At any rate, the 'new' building was dedicated on March 28 (Maundy Thursday), 1872, and newspaper reports tell of "3,000 people marching in procession" from the Anson Street site to the King Street building.
A brass key - still used today - which opens the main doors to the sanctuary building - was presented at the dedication, as was a key of gold and silver which remains today in the church's possession and is used ceremonially whenever there is a change in either lay or clergy leadership.
The current St. Matthew's was built without the loss of a single life - a blessing not universally enjoyed in those days.
By 1883, due to a growing population of both German-speaking and English-speaking Lutherans in the city - as immigrant's worked hard to learn the language and culture of their new homeland (while maintaining their unique individual European culture), services at St. Matthew's began to be offered in both German and English.
In 1901, a clock and bells were installed in the steeple at a cost of $7,000, as were the stained glass side windows in the lower level of the Nave. Until the late 1940s, there was one person – and one person only, Henry Russ – who rang the St. Matthew’s church bells – for worship, weddings, funerals, and, occasionally, to sound a general community alarm.
The first Candlelight Christmas Carol service was held in December 1927 – a tradition which continues to this day as the St. Matthew’s “Candlelight Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” held toward the end of the Advent season each December, and attracting repeat worshipers from great distances.
Ask any person living in Charleston what happened on January 13, 1965 at 6:50pm, and they will likely tell you “the St. Matthew’s fire.” It was caused by the overheating of an incandescent light fixture located in the rear of the Gallery while the interior of the sanctuary was being repainted. Within minutes, the entire sanctuary was ablaze. The steeple fell at 10pm, and lodged itself 18 feet into the ground on the south side of the building’s entrance. The remains of the steeple are visible in that same location to this day, marked by a commemorative plaque.
Members of the congregation waded in knee-deep water throughout the night in an effort to save as much of the interior of the sanctuary as possible. The pulpit, lectern, altar, baptismal font, chancel windows, candelabra and windows underneath the Gallery were saved. The pews, however, because of extensive water damaged, are rebuilt precise replicas of the original seats. The cost of the restoration project: $500,000.
One of the distinctions that St. Matthew’s holds in the community is that of the tallest steeple – not only in the City of Charleston – but also, in the entire state of South Carolina: soaring 255 feet, 7 and 5/8 inches above sea level, certified by an engineering class from the Citadel! There is the story that – either by law or out of respect – nothing can be built taller than the St. Matthew’s steeple within the City - a ‘fact’ (or myth) which we have never been able to completely verify.
Beneath the Old Exchange Building lies the Provost Dungeon, which played an important role in the history of Charles Town, South Carolina and the development of our country. Sturdily constructed in 1781 using a brick barrel vaulted ceiling, the Dungeon, and the remaining floors of the Old Exchange Building, have survived hurricanes, earthquakes, and wars. Archaeological excavations have unearthed some fascinating artifacts, including a portion of the original Half-Moon Bastion, currently the only visible section of the early fortification of Charles Town. Here are historical accounts of some of the occurrences within the Provost Dungeon:
Edward McCrady, LL. D. in The History of South Carolina in the Revolution gives the following description of the Provost:
"The middle part of the cellar under the Exchange was the place chosen for the imprisonment of those arrested. It was called the Provost. The dampness of this unwholesome place, without any means of warming its temperature, caused great sickness and suffering and some deaths among those confined within its walls. It was in this place that the citizens arrested in August 1780 and sent to St. Augustine, were first confined. Citizens, marched from distant parts of the interior in irons, were thrown into this prison. . . . Not only men, but women also were indiscriminately cast into this place. Among these two young ladies of most excellent character and respectable connections, on a groundless suspicion of giving intelligence to the Americans, were for a short time subjected to the same indignity. These were crowded together with the sick laboring under contagious diseases, with negroes, deserters, women of infamous character to the number forty-six within narrow limits."
On August 27, 1780 the following prominent citizens who had been given freedom of the City under parole were arrested by order of Lord Cornwallis and imprisoned in the Provost of the Exchange and were later sent to St. Augustine, Fla. -- Lieutenant-Governor Christopher Gadsden . . . Thomas Heyward, Jr. . . . Edward Rutledge [ and 35 others].
The Provost Museum was opened in 1966.
St. Philip's Church, 146 Church Street. Present building constructed 1835-38 after fire in the original church. Additions and chancel renovated 1920, restored 1993-94. Steeple was added 1848-50 to the designs of architect E.B. White.
Sally Ann Hart, University of Rochester, NY; Peggye Cohen, George Washington University, DC; Lynn Mccloskey, Washington University, MO; Dixie Sakolosky, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, VA; Dawn Terkla, Tufts University, MA: Phyllis Fitzpatrick, Fairfield University, CT; Sharon Stacy, Eckerd College, FL; Marge Wiseman, Northeastern University, MA; Nancy Weinstein, Wellesley College, MA