Name/Title
22 Elizabeth Street (New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church)Entry/Object ID
ELIZABETH.022.1Scope and Content
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. 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 despite the change in congregation, and the building often serves as a popular venue for Spoleto performances. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.)
File contains FOHG building histories (undated, 1992); SCHS(?) building history (1988 house tour); building history from City of Charleston Tour Guide Training Manual; other narrative histories; handwritten staff research "source notes" (scant); newspaper article and documents related to the proposed adaptive re-use of the church as a theater including HCF's position statement.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
ELIZABETH.022.Source or Donor
22 Elizabeth Street (New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Elizabeth Street, Mazyckborough and Wraggborough, Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church (Charleston, S.C.), Church buildings--South Carolina--CharlestonArchive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Finding Aids: Index to Property Files
Level of Description: FolderLocation
Location
Shelf
Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Location
Container
PF Box 41Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Lee, Francis D.Related Entries
Notes
ELIZABETH.022.2, ELIZABETH.022.3Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 603-604Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
May 6, 2008Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023