22 Elizabeth Street
City Directories and History: NEW TABERNACLE FOURTH BAPTIST CHURCH – Constructed 1859; Francis D. Lee, architect
“Charleston’s premier Gothic Revival architect, Francis D. Lee, designed a soaring Gothic church for the St. Luke’s Episcopal congregation in the Mazyckborough-Wraggborough neighborhood. The Charleston Courier noted at the time of the laying of the cornerstone in May 1859 that the style was to be “Perpendicular Gothic . . . peculiarly adapted to our Southern climate.” The church was constructed in a Greek cross layout, but the planned 210-foot steeple was never completed. Intended to be stuccoed, the building remained exposed brick with indifferent pointing techniques. Giant lancet Gothic windows with elaborate tracery decorate the gable ends of each point of the cross. On the interior, soaring
Gothic vaults resting on quatrefoil columns support the central 55-foot ceiling. The galleries are decorated with Gothic style spindle work and quatrefoil center panels.
The Charleston Dailey News on Sept. 20, 1872 reported – “The improvements to St. Paul’s Church in Radcliffborough are progressing rapidly. The old high-back pews are gone and more modern pews without doors have been installed. The pews are of walnut and a new railing of walnut will be put around the chancel, along with wainscoting. The work is done by Mr. P.P. Toale of this city.”
Damaged by shelling and stripped by Union troops during the Civil War, the barely completed building continued in use by the St. Luke’s congregation until 1949. At that time the church merged with St. Paul’s in Radcliffeborough and became the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul at 126 Coming Street. New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church, founded in 1875 and rebuilt in 1904 under the leadership of the Reverend D. J. Jenkins, founder of Jenkins’s Orphanage, purchased St. Luke’s in 1950. Most of the detailed elements of St. Luke’s Church have been preserved with the change in congregation, and the building often serves as a popular venue for Spoleto performances.”
Information from: The Buildings of Charleston – J.H. Poston – Author, for the Historic Charleston Foundation, 1997
Access information on numerous Charleston County and South Carolina churches, by clicking the highlighted S.C. Digital Library name.
Other sources of interest: Charleston Tax Payers of Charleston, SC in 1860-61 and the Dwelling Houses of Charleston by Alice R.H. Smith – 1917
“New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church was built for St. Luke’s Episcopal church. The Gothic Revival structure was begun in 1859 and was consecrated in 1862 when not fully completed, construction having been halted by the Civil War. The original design by architect Francis D. Lee called for a steeple in the northwest corner, which was never built. It was planned to be stuccoed but patriotism intervened and the lime was donated to the confederacy. Built in the shape of a Greek cross , the building has on each side single Gothic windows 37 feet high. The center of the vaulted ceiling is 55 feet above the floor. Patrick O’Donnell , who built his own fine residence at 21 King street, was the building contractor. St. Luke’s congregation, which was organized in 1858, was united with St. Paul’s (Radcliffeboro) in 1949. New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist church, which purchased the building in 1950, was founded in 1875. The congregation moved here from a building on the site of the Medical University Hospital. The Rev. Daniel J. Jenkins founder of the Jenkins Orphanage, was once a pastor of New Tabernacle.”
(Legerton, Historic Churches, p.6-7 ; Ravenel, Architects , p.224-227 ) – CCPL
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