Coming Street Cemetery
National Register Listing
Street Address:
189 Coming St., Charleston, SC (Charleston County)
Alternate Name:
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Congregational Cemetery
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817710163
Description and Narrative:
The Coming Street Cemetery, established in 1762, is privately owned by Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Holy Congregation of the House of God), a congregation whose synagogue is itself a National Historic Landmark. This cemetery is the oldest Jewish burial ground in the South. It is also significant for its association with the history of the Beth Elohim, a congregation established in 1749 and the birthplace of Reform Judaism in America in 1824; as the chief cemetery for Charleston’s significant Jewish community since the colonial era; and for its fine examples of late-eighteenth century and early nineteenth century gravestone art. The cemetery contains some six hundred marble and brownstone gravestones, most dating from the last half of the eighteenth century or the first half of the nineteenth century. It includes many box tombs, table-top tombs, obelisks, and columns, several of them fine examples of late-eighteenth and nineteenth century gravestone art, and many signed by such prominent local sculptors and stonecutters as A.F. Chevreaux, M. Gannon, G. Rennie, D.A. Walker, Edward R. White, and William T. White. Many gravestones feature Hebrew inscriptions and/or Jewish religious motifs. A perimeter stuccoed brick wall, part of it original, is an important feature of the site and has been a major factor in keeping the cemetery intact for over two hundred years. Listed in the National Register November 5, 1996.
Period of Significance:
1762;1842;1843;1762 – 1909
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Art;Religion;Social History
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
November 5 1996
