Beaufort’s St. Helena’s Parish Church- One of America’s Oldest

 

There are street names such as King and Church that seem very “Charleston” to those of us who live in the Holy City area.

Tour guides steer horse-drawn carriages full of tourists- a common site in Charleston’s Historic District. 

The churchyard is filled with Barnwells, Elliotts, Heywards, Rhetts, Gibbes, and other surnames common in Charleston’s old burial grounds. 

This rare marker type is made of zinc. Continue reading for more details about this style and the New England company that manufactured them. 

But this is not Charleston. It is its neighbor 70 miles to the south, Beaufort.

Charles Town was founded by the British in 1670. The British came to Beaufort 41 years later in 1711. St. Helena Parish Church was formed the very next year in 1712. Back then the Anglican Church was a (strong) arm of the government. Separation of church and state would come many years later after the hard-fought Revolutionary War. 

Signs and plaques touch on St. Helena's long and rich history.