Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object Type |
Property File |
Title |
60 Wentworth Street (Centenary Methodist Church) |
Scope & Content |
Constructed 1841-42, renovated 1911, 1953. Edward Brickell White, architect. Edward B. White designed one of Charleston's most chaste Greek Revival buildings for the congregation of Second Baptist Church in 1841-42. Some believe that the giant-order portico exemplifies the challenge to White to compete with the K.K. Beth Elohim Synagogue one block to the south. Lamenting the placement of the doors insisted upon by the building committee, an anonymous critic wrote an essay in the newspaper pointing out its "flawed" design, and a response by the architect indicated his own lament as well. At war's end the Wentworth Street congregation merged with Citadel Square Baptist and endeavored to sell their church buildings. Contemporaneously, black members of Trinity Methodist Church left that congregation when offered membership after the war on the condition that they continued to worship in the gallery. After starting a church under the leadership of a New England minister and beginning services at Avery Normal Institute, the leaders negotiated to purchase the Wentworth Street building for $20,000. The requirement that the funds be paid in gold by a specified date nearly ended the transaction, but the congregation was aided in securing the gold by Trinity member and the wealthy Charleston banker George W. Williams. The church was extensively repaired after the hurricane of 1911 and renovated in 1953. Its congregation has included some of Charleston's most important African Americans, including the late civil rights leader Septima Poinsett Clark. File contains building history from Architectural Guide to Charleston (by Simons & Thomas); "History of Centenary Methodist Church, April 10, 1866, - April 9, 1989" (excerpt from unattributed source); newspaper articles. |
Subjects |
Centenary United Methodist Church (Charleston, S.C.) Church buildings--South Carolina--Charleston African American churches--South Carolina--Charleston |
Search Terms |
Wentworth Street Ansonborough Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship |
Physical Description |
1 File Folder |
Related Records |
Show Related Records... |
Object ID # |
WENTWORTH.060.1 |