St. Stephen Parish Church

St. Stephen, South Carolina 

  The St. Stephen Episcopal Church and the cemetery are located within the town limits at 196 Brick Church Circle and is a National Historic Landmark.  The resting place of U.S. Representative of SC, Lucius Mendel Rivers is located in the cemetery.  The “Old Brick Church” a beautiful historical treasure, goes back to the earliest colonial memories from which the Town of St. Stephen was built upon, and is still the site of weekly services.  The church was built between 1767 and 1769 from the proceeds of the Lowcountry’s once thriving indigo market of the 1760’s, and replaced a small wooden frontier chapel on the same site.  The construction of the church building used the talents of local craftsmen.  Inscribed on the east wall above the chancel window is the signature of William Axson, a member of the Wambaw Lodge of Freemasons.  Supervisors A. Howard and Francis Villeponteaux, also left their signatures inscribed on various bricks around the exterior.  These talented men built the church with local materials, the bricks being manufactured only a short distance away.  Mason members, at Mount Hope Lodge No. 128 and the Morning Star Chapter No. 121; Order of the Eastern Star, hold meetings in the lodge building located on Brick Church Circle, across from the church.     

  The original parish, from what is now St. Stephen was both a religious subdivision of the Church of England and a governmental entity of the Royal Colonial government.  The original settlers both English and French successfully petitioned the government in 1754 to separate “English Santee,” the new parish of St. Stephen, from “French Santee,” the older, coastal parish of St. James Santee.

For more information please visit http://www.ststephenschurchsc.org