St. Helena Parish Chapel of Ease Ruins
National Register Listing
Street Address:
SC Sec. Rd. 45, near jct. with SC Sec. Rd. 37, St. Helena, SC (Beaufort County)
Alternate Name:
St. Helena Island Parish Church Ruins
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817707045
Description and Narrative:
This ruin is significant as a relatively intact example of mid-eighteenth century tabby construction and for its association with the St. Helena Parish, both as a secondary and primary place of worship for inhabitants of the parish. It was built ca. 1740 as a chapel of ease, to serve planters in St. Helena Parish who lived at great distances from the parish church in Beaufort and could not regularly attend services there. By 1812, the population of St. Helena Island had increased to the extent that the chapel of ease was designated a parish church. The church was virtually abandoned when the planters evacuated the island in the fall of 1861. During the Federal occupation of St. Helena, the church was used frequently by several of the Northerners who had come to the island to educate and train the freedmen. It was also used as a sanctuary by Methodist freedmen as early as 1868, but was burned by a forest fire in February 1886 and was never repaired. Much of its historic fabric, including the church walls and much of its plaster, remains. A small cemetery adjacent to the church ruin contributes to the historic character of the property. Listed in the National Register October 6, 1988.
Period of Significance:
circa 1740 – 1886;circa 1740;1812;1886
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Religion;Architecture;Art
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
October 6 1988
