Ruff's Chapel

National Register Listing

Street Address:

U.S. 21 and SC 34, Ridgeway, SC (Fairfield County)

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817720034

Description and Narrative:

Ruff’s Chapel was the first Methodist Church built in Ridgeway. It was built by a prominent Ridgeway merchant, David H. Ruff, who is buried in the small cemetery surrounding the church. Built about 1870, Ruff’s Chapel is a single-story, rectangular frame building, sheathed in weatherboard, with a front gabled roof. There are two sets of double doors on the façade, topped by four-light transoms and simple entablatures supported on scroll brackets. The roof is covered with embossed metal shingles. The square open belfry has a metal covered bellcast hip roof with a ball finial. According to tradition, Mr. Ruff threw sixty silver dollars into the metal when the bell was cast, to give it a silvery tone. The bell was removed for safekeeping after an attempt was made to steal it. Listed in the National Register November 26, 1980.

Period of Significance:

1870

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Commerce;Religion

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

November 25 1980

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