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

 church, Episcopal Church, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1750s construction, U.S. National Historic Landmark

71 Broad Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 723-0603
www.stmichaelschurch.net/

St. Michael's Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, is one of the finest Colonial American churches in the country and the oldest church in Charleston. Although the architect is unknown, the church was built between 1752 and 1761 and resembles 18th-century English pattern book examples widely used throughout the colonies. It is similar in many respects to London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields, designed by James Gibbs.

Prominent and elegant features of the two-story stuccoed brick church are its giant classical portico and a 186-foot high massively proportioned steeple. The history of the congregation of St. Michael's is rooted in that of St. Philip's Episcopal. The first St. Philip's church stood at this site from approximately 1681 to 1727. In 1751, the congregation divided, and the residents of the lower half of the city formed St. Michael's.