The Best of St. Michael's Church

As we took a trip to St. Michael's on Sunday and it wasn't as gloomy as we had originally thought; It was just raining a bit and it would get worse at times.

St. Michael's, Overveiw 

1. The Church's architecture and history

•     This church is one of the oldest churches in Charleston and the first was built out of wood in 1680's and was called St. Phillip. When the congregation had gotten too big for the church, a new one made of brick was built in 1752 and opened in 1761. The church's architecture is a style of Italian and French Baroque. The original Architect is unknown, but one person that may have contributed is Sir Christopher Wren.

Left side of alter

Right Side of Alter

2. The Alter

• The Alter is unique because it has the Ten Commandments and statements etched into the wall. There is everything that you can expect within a Catholic Alter- the bread, wine, and the cross, but there is something that was really out of place there. The stained glass windows are a part of the church's overall architecture and it ties everything together. 

Grave marker inside the church

3. Grave Markers inside the church

• The interesting thing about St. Michael's is that there are Markers inside the church. The priest said that people were actually buried under the church itself. This was particularly intriguing because that statement is not really said within churches, especially one that is that old. 

Organ

4. The Organ 

• The Organ that sits on the 2nd floor of the church was built in 1768 by John Snetzler. This organ was refinished by Kenneth Jones. When we went to the service, it played beautifully. During the service, it was hard to tell where the music was coming from, until one walked from under the ceiling in the back. 

Pews

5. George Washington's Pew

• George Washington rented this wooden pew in this church and he would go to service in this church. These are used mostly for conversation, but the frame is original and the wooden floor has been elevated. 

Fountain

6. The Fountain

• This fountain is unique to St. Michael's church because of its' placement and the way it ties into the churchyard. The water that comes out of this fountain is supposed to be pure and mostly spring water. The belief behind this fountain is that the people who drink from it will be closer to Jesus. 

Backwall and center of churchyard

7. The walk way

•  The walkway is very unique to St. Michael because the path is a combination between markers and a pathway. The path is in the middle of the churchyard and is made of marble to emphasize the walkway. The path crosses the grave of John Rutledge and leads off all around the churchyard.  

Frontside of churchyard

8. The oldest gravesite/grave marker

• The oldest grave marker of this churchyard is on wall on the right and the grave marker is so worn down that one cannot see it. 

Marker stones, The Archangel Raphael

9. Marker stones

• These stones are very interesting and can make one wonder about why they are there. The stones are centered around the hierarchy of angels and the angel that the church is centered around is the Archangel Michael. Within the churchyard, these stones show up as The Archangel Michael, The Archangel Raphael, The Seraphim, The Cherubim, and All Angels. 

Charles Pinckney, James L. Petigru, and John Rutledge

10. John Rutledge, James L. Petigru, and Charles Pinckney

• These people were all important in history. Pinckney and Rutledge were signers of the Declaration of Independence. Petigru was helpful in recoding the South Carolina laws.  

* Created by Stephanie Buero and Brita Lake