Lower Long Cane A.R.P. Church and Covered Bridge - McCormick County, S.C.

Long Cane Road

City Directories and History: This lovely church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The lovely Long Cane Church measures 44 – 64 feet.

The Lower Long Cane Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and Cemetery is associated with early settlement in the colonial and Revolutionary-era South Carolina backcountry and with the nineteenth-century establishment, decline, and revitalization of not only a single congregation, but also of the entire Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination as a separate sect in the

Presbyterian tradition. Its sanctuary, designed by William Henry Jones of Atlanta and dedicated in 1856, is an outstanding example of the Greek Revival style as applied to the simple meeting house form, while its cemetery of more than 500 graves includes burials of several charter members of Long Cane Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church from the period 1790-1856, when this church was exceptionally significant in the formation, growth, and development of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church as a whole. The church rests on a foundation of handmade brick piers, with a pierced brick curtain wall added at a later date. The façade features a fully engaged tetrastyle Roman Doric portico with an unadorned entablature and a steeply pitched pediment. Originally covered in wooden shingles, the roof was by ca. 1950 covered with diamond-shaped asbestos shingles. A small brick flue pierces the roof ridge at the center of the building. The interior auditorium is two stories in height with flush board walls and ceiling. The gallery features a continuously paneled knee wall, ranked wooden floors, and

Courtesy of the Edmond Collection – 2014

simple handmade pews. Listed in the National Register October 6, 1999. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]

Additional architectural and historical information available – ARP Church.

“Long Cane (1780), McCormick County. Now often called “Lower Long Cane” to distinguish it from “Upper Long Cane” Southern Presbyterian Church on the outskirts of Abbeville. Long Cane Creek, which also gives its name to several other features of the life of the section, is a sizeable stream flowing through several counties.”

Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC

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Long Cane ARP Church
This current Greek Revival church building was constructed by William Henry Jones of Atlanta, a building contractor, and dedicated by Dr. Sloan on July 20, 1856. During the dedication Dr. Sloan preached from Habakkuk 2:20, “But the Lord is in His Holy Temple; let all the earth keep silent before Him”. The wooden structure is 44 x 64 feet with a 10 foot porch and gallery around three sides. It remains largely original except for additions of small rooms near the pulpit which were added in 1892 when the church discontinued the use of the Session House in back of the church, which had served also as a school. Its cemetery of more than 500 graves includes burials of several charter members of Long Cane Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church from the period 1790-1856, when this church was exceptionally significant in the formation, growth, and development of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church as a whole. The church rests on a foundation of handmade brick piers, with a pierced brick curtain wall added at a later date. The façade features a fully engaged tetra-style Roman Doric portico with an unadorned entablature and a steeply pitched pediment. Originally covered in wooden shingles, the roof was by ca. 1950 covered with diamond-shaped asbestos shingles. A small brick flue pierces the roof ridge at the center of the building. The interior auditorium is two stories in height with flush-board walls and ceiling. The gallery features a continuously paneled knee wall, ranked wooden floors, and simple handmade pews. [Written and contributed to R&R by Bob Edmonds, 2015]

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IMAGE GALLERY – Blythe Collection, 1982