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Photo, Print, Drawing St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, 100 Vestry Way, Goose Creek, Berkeley County, SC St. James Church

View 17 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS SC-79  ]

More Resources

View 10 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS SC-79  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS SC-79  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS SC-79  ]

About this Item

Title

  • St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, 100 Vestry Way, Goose Creek, Berkeley County, SC

Other Title

  • St. James Church

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Church of England
  • Corbin, William
  • LeJau, Francis
  • Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
  • Stoney, Samuel G.
  • Fraser, Charles
  • Honour, Leila Norton
  • Simons, Albert
  • Etiwan
  • Sewee
  • Holmes, Francis S.
  • Waring, Joseph
  • National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
  • N.I. Ball & Son
  • Charleston Constructors, Inc.
  • Landscape Pavers Limited
  • University of South Carolina, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology
  • George T. Fore & Associates
  • Richard Marks Restoration
  • Bennett Preservation Engineering PC
  • Adornetto, Megan, field team
  • Byrne, Caroline, field team
  • Candelaria, Deryn, field team
  • Castro-Bailey, Lyrik, field team
  • Cone , Chris, field team
  • Cox, Claire, field team
  • Fore, Rachel, field team
  • Gaston, Sarah, field team
  • Hein, Winter, field team
  • Hockenberry, Jacob, field team
  • Martin, Chloe, field team
  • Regna, Paige, field team
  • Rowsam, Gabriella, field team
  • Schmidt, Brianna, field team
  • St. Onge, Hannah, field team
  • Sutton, Jack, field team
  • Adington, Holly, project assistant
  • McKee, Harley J., historian
  • Greene, C. O., photographer
  • Waterman, Thomas T., photographer
  • Boucher, Jack E., photographer
  • Pilcher, Chase, project assistant
  • Leifeste, Amalia, faculty sponsor
  • Clemson University/College of Charleston, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, sponsor
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  Episcopal churches
  • -  religions
  • -  Anglican churches
  • -  Georgian architectural elements
  • -  jerkinhead roofs
  • -  Reredoses
  • -  quoins
  • -  slavery
  • -  brick buildings
  • -  plasterwork
  • -  stucco
  • -  earthquakes
  • -  roofing slate
  • -  South Carolina--Berkeley County--Goose Creek

Latitude / Longitude

  • 32.97549,-80.03267

Notes

  • -  2023 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Third Place
  • -  Significance: St. James Protestant Episcopal Church in Goose Creek, South Carolina was constructed between 1713 and 1719 and has withstood wars, hurricanes, and earthquakes. It is a significant structure due to its architecture, the site it sits on, and its association with important religious and historical patterns and people. The St. James church property is associated with important, broad patterns of religious history within the United States. St. James was established as a direct response to the 1706 General Assembly Act which dictated that the Church of England be the dominant religion, sparking the Parish system that remains today. The building represents the spread of Anglicanism from England to the colonies, due to connections with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. St. James Church, though primarily a place of worship, was also an important site of political power and social gatherings. Features, such as the Gibbes plaque and the hatchment, speak to patterns of migration from, and continued ties to, England. The gallery offers a physical reminder of the social convention of assigning different spaces to people of different races, and to the system of enslavement. The architectural expression of the church demonstrates the wealth of the settlement, achieved through agricultural cultivation (primarily of rice) and the enslavement of thousands of individuals. The church is also associated with significant historical figures, most notably the first minister of St. James Goose Creek, Dr. Francis LeJau. A French Huguenot who left France during a Huguenot persecution, LeJau eventually moved to South Carolina where he became a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He kept detailed records of his time in South Carolina that provide important information about the church's founding and, because he was an enslaver, important details about the history of slavery in the Lowcountry. LeJau sought to spread Anglicanism, including by baptizing and offering communion to enslaved people—practices that had no intention of changing the institution of slavery. The work of enslaved craftspeople made the building possible, and these individuals are significant, though their names are not documented. Other significant figures associated with the church include Leila Norton Honour, an accomplished artist of the latenineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, responsible for the 1909 replacement of the original pelican sculpture over the entry door, and Albert Simons, a high-profile preservationist who undertook work on the building in the twentieth century. St. James demonstrates a high degree of architectural craftsmanship. Though the church has gone through many phases, its overall architectural and artistic characteristics survive, from the jerkinhead roof to the elaborate plasterwork on both the interior and exterior. With its distinctive and artistic ornamentation, St. James is a prime example of a Georgian-style church in the region. Because the Goose Creek area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, the site may provide additional archaeological information about previous residents and land use. An area beyond the church's perimeter wall, land owned by the vestry, may contain an early African American burial ground important for future investigation.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2556
  • -  Survey number: HABS SC-79
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1713- 1719 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1875 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1886 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1907 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1844- 1845 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1955 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1995 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1981-1982 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 70000566

Medium

  • Photo(s): 17
  • Measured Drawing(s): 10
  • Data Page(s): 19
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS SC,8-GOOCR,1-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • sc0310

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS SC,8-GOOCR,1-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Church Of England, William Corbin, Francis Lejau, Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel In Foreign Parts, Samuel G Stoney, Charles Fraser, et al., Greene, C. O, Thomas T Waterman, and Jack E Boucher, photographer. St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, 100 Vestry Way, Goose Creek, Berkeley County, SC. South Carolina Goose Creek Berkeley County, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0310/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Church Of England, Corbin, W., Lejau, F., Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel In Foreign Parts, Stoney, S. G. [...] Clemson University/College Of Charleston, G. P. I. H. P., Greene, C. O., Waterman, T. T. & Boucher, J. E., photographer. (1933) St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, 100 Vestry Way, Goose Creek, Berkeley County, SC. South Carolina Goose Creek Berkeley County, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0310/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Greene, C. O, Thomas T Waterman, and Jack E Boucher. St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, 100 Vestry Way, Goose Creek, Berkeley County, SC. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/sc0310/>.