White Church
National Register Listing
Street Address:
2 mi. N of Cainhoy on CR 98 (Berkeley County)
Alternate Name:
St. Thomas & St. Dennis Parish Epsicopal Church; Brick Church
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817708025
Description and Narrative:
(St. Thomas & St. Dennis Parish Episcopal Church; Brick Church) White Church, or St. Thomas & St. Dennis Parish Episcopal Church, was constructed in 1819 and occupies the site of the older parish church of St. Thomas, which was built about 1706 but which burned in 1815. During the Reconstruction period, the church was the scene of the 1876 “Cainhoy Massacre,” a serious riot between whites and blacks which developed when some white men from Charleston journeyed to Cainhoy to attend a Negro Republican meeting. The blacks fired upon the white men with guns they had hidden in a vault at St. Thomas churchyard. The church, charming in its simplicity of design, is a uniquely beautiful example of a small, rural parish church of the early 1800s. The church, with its Classical Revival or late Federal features, is made of stucco over brick with a medium gable roof made of tile. A high-arched doorway with a fanlight capped by a five-panel arch is set between pilasters. The side facades are identical. A balcony above the inside door was added about 1858. In 1937 the church was restored by Henry F. Guggenheim. An unusual and distinctive auxiliary building is the vestry, with hipped roof on one end and chimney on the other, giving the appearance of a half-completed building. A cemetery dating from 1782 is included in the nomination. Listed in the National Register September 22, 1977.
Period of Significance:
1819;19th century
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Politics/Government;Religion
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
March 23 1972
