Old St. Andrew’s Parish Church
Built in 1706, this simple, elegant church is the oldest surviving structure used for worship south of Virginia. It is South Carolina’s only remaining colonial cruciform church.
St. Andrew’s Parish Church (commonly known as Old St. Andrew’s) was one of 10 Anglican churches in South Carolina established in 1706 by the Church Act. It was built to serve the Anglican planters along the Ashley River, a thriving tidal waterway that connected them to the city of Charles Town and to each other.
The ancient building holds a full schedule of worship services every Sunday. Some of its earliest counterparts are still used, but less often. (None are as old.) Others have been replaced or augmented by newer buildings, some centuries old themselves, some modern. Still others have vanished, or their ruins stand in eerie silence to ages past. Visitors to this national treasure see a beautifully restored building.