Name/Title
57 Meeting Street (First Scots Presbyterian Church)Entry/Object ID
MEETING.057.1Scope and Content
Constructed ca. 1814; renovated 1887, 1945, 1987. Perhaps inspired by the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe's Baltimore Cathedral or designs by Robert Adam for the Church at Mistley in Essex, the present structure replaced an earlier church dating to 1760s. An even earlier building stood to the west of the current site. The pedimented portico supported by Tuscan columns is flanked by twin towers with gilded spheres and ironwork finials. First Scots is the fifth-oldest ecclesiastical building in the city, and the churchyard contains over fifty 18th-century gravestones. It was probably designed and constructed by the Scottish master builders Robert John and James Gordon, who were members of the congregation. Much of the interior has been altered, due to severe earthquake damage and a fire in 1945. An important carved wooden memorial with rococo decoration survives from the earlier meetinghouse and memorializes Lady Anne Murray, a young Scottish noblewoman and member of the congregation who died in 1772. It hangs on the sanctuary wall along with marble memorials to the church's prominent 19th-century members, most of Scottish extraction. Ties to the Church of Scotland is exemplified by the stained glass window depicting the seal of the Church of Scotland, the Burning bush, with the Latin motto around the seal: "Nec tamen consumbatur" (Nevertheless it was not consumed).
File contains FOHG house history (1995); other narrative histories; newspaper articles (1933, 1981, 1988, 1992); building history from Architectural Guide to Charleston (by Simons & Thomas); excerpt from Early Ironwork about the gateway; historical/chain-of-title research notes and documents (unattributed, undated); photocopy of "A Sermon Delivered on the 29th December, 1814, at the Dedication of the New Scotch Presbyterian Church" by Aaron W. Leland; photocopy of "Centennial Celebration of the Dedication of the First Presbyterian Church" (1914); copy of illustration of the South Front of the Parish Church of Mistley in Essex (source not indicated); photocopy of "Boundary and Topographic Survey of First Scots Presbyterian Church" by G. Robert George & Associates, 2003); correspondence related to the installation of a bell (1994-95); photocopies of miscellaneous photographs and McCrady plats; photocopy of "Documents Relative to the Controversy in the First Presbyterian Church..." (1817); photocopy of the "Manual of the First Presbyterian Church" (1894); reduced-size plat ("existing topo plan") showing renovations and additions (Cummings & McCrady, 2009).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
MEETING.057.Source or Donor
57 Meeting Street (First Scots Presbyterian Church)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Meeting Street, Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, First Scots Presbyterian 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 70Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
2004.020.034, 2006.005.042, 2013.026.21, 2016.009.05, 2017.024.36, 2020.012.13, MEETING.057.2a-bRelated Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 263Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
June 3, 2010Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023