Sheldon Church, once known as the Prince William Parish Church, has a long history. The congregation held its first service in 1757. The British troops burned the church in 1779. It was rebuilt in 1826 with the walls that were still standing.
Originally it was believed the church was burned by Sherman’s troops. It came to light with unearthed documents that stated the church was burnt but ransacked by local people who needed supplies.
Built around 1740 to give planter’s access to church when traveling to their home church was too difficult, the Chapel was out on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The tabby church was damaged in an 1868 forest fire. There is a small burial ground adjacent to the church with one distinctive mausoleum.
Established in the 1680s, the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the country. The current church building was built in 1831 and has largely stayed the same in its almost 200-year history.
The church’s graveyard contains graves as old as 1787. The headstones illustrate this long history ranging from slate markers to more modern granite ones. The most famous burial is Julia Legare.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The Brick Church was built in 1827 on land donated by Reverend Payton Wade. Enslaved labor from the Lebanon Forest Plantation built this church building, and it’s a testament to their skills that this is simultaneously the oldest church and oldest brick church in Screven County.
According to 1859 member rolls, there were 419 Black members and 150 white members. Considering the Wade family enslaved over 400 people, it is likely that most of the Black members were enslaved by the Wade family. There was a slave gallery at one point, indicated by the covered windows at the top. The gallery has since been removed.
The church and cemetery are still in use today. The Wade plantation still exists as a pecan farm, but it is no longer owned by the Wades.
Originally named the First Colored Baptist Church, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was founded in 1873. The first church building was at the intersection of 12th Street North and 4th Avenue. The congregation moved to its current location in 1880.
This is the second building at this location. The City of Birmingham condemned the first building, so the church leaders turned to Alabama’s only Black architect, Wallace Rayfield, to design the current building. T.C. Windham, a Black contractor from Birmingham, managed the church’s building. The church was completed in 1911 with Romanesque and Byzantine elements.
Based on its location in Birmingham, the church became a centerpiece of the Civil Rights Movement. The church hosted lecturers and became a gathering place for meetings and rallies. Unfortunately, the church became a target of white supremacists on Sunday, September 15, 1963, when a bomb went off at 10:22 AM. The bomb killed 4 girls and injured more than 20 others. Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair lost their lives that day. It took years to bring the perpetrators to justice. Three out of the four were convicted.
Located in McIntosh County on Highway 17, Christ’s Chapel is better known as the “Smallest Church in America.” Initially constructed in 1940, the current church was rebuilt after it was destroyed by arson in 2015.
