405 King Street (St. Matthew's German Lutheran Church)

Archive

-

Historic Charleston Foundation

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church (1977): Resolution: 75 dpi
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church (1977)

Resolution: 75 dpi

Name/Title

405 King Street (St. Matthew's German Lutheran Church)

Entry/Object ID

KING.405.1

Scope and Content

Constructed 1867-72; restored and steeple rebuilt after fire damage 1965-66. John Henry Devereaux, architect. With the tremendous expansion of Charleston's German community, the congregation of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church on Hasell Street bought a new site on King Street near Vanderhorst Street for its congregation. The cornerstone was laid in 1869, and the church was complete for Holy Thursday, March 28, 1872, and dedicated with a crowd of 3,000 inside and outside. The 297-foot spire of the structure commands this section of the city and was once the tallest structure in South Carolina. The Gothicism employed by the architect was said to be related to the German versions of Gothic architecture. The building was once decoratively painted to appear as though it was of stone construction. A disastrous fire in January 1965 gutted the sanctuary and toppled the steeple. The spire projected upside down to the ground just northeast of the doorway and penetrated the soil to a depth of eighteen feet. A section of the spire has been left in place as a reminder. On the interior the marble altar and the German stained-glass windows in the apse remained intact. The Charleston firm of Simons, Lapham, Mitchell and Small oversaw the restoration of St. Matthew's Church. File contains building history from Architectural Guide to Charleston; Church brochure; information and interesting facts about the church building (undated, unattributed); newspaper articles about its renovation and the 1965 fire (P&C 2015).

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

KING.405.

Source or Donor

405 King Street (St. Matthew's German Lutheran Church)

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

King Street, Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, Uptown, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Church buildings, St. Matthew's Lutheran Church (Charleston, S.C.)

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

1 File Folder

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Shelf

Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box 55

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Devereux, John Henry

Person or Organization

Simons, Albert

Person or Organization

Lapham, Samuel S.

Person or Organization

Mitchell, J.M.

Related Entries

Notes

2004.020.066, 2006.010.272-287, 2017.003.7, KING.405.2, KING.405.3

Related Publications

Notes

Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 386

General Notes

Note

Notes: Photo in this record from Bayless collection.

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

September 21, 2009

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 16, 2023