Johns Island in Charleston County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

John's Island Presbyterian Church

American Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Site

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

1. John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Founded by early English, Scottish, and French settlers about 1710, this is one of the oldest Presbyterian congregations in South Carolina. The original sanctuary, believed to have been built about 1719, was enlarged in 1823.

Erected 1960 by The Congregation. (Marker Number 10-2 / 114.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Churches & Religion. In addition, it is included in the American Presbyterian and Reformed Historic Sites series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1710.

Location. 32° 41.141′ N, 80° 4.926′ W. Marker is on Johns Island, South Carolina, in Charleston County. Marker is on Bohicket Road (State Highway 10-20) near Donnelly Lane, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2550 Bohicket Road, Johns Island SC 29455, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Progressive Club (approx. 2½ miles away); Federal Expedition on John's Island / Battle of Burden's Causeway (approx. 4.2 miles away); Belvidere School Site (approx.

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6.1 miles away); Plainsfield Plantation (approx. 6.4 miles away); Battle of Sol-Legare Island (approx. 6.7 miles away); Hunter's Volunteers (approx. 6.9 miles away); St. Paul's, Stono / St. Paul's Churchyard (approx. 7.3 miles away); Battery Number 5 (approx. 7.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Johns Island.

Regarding John's Island Presbyterian Church. National Register of Historic Places:
John's Island Presbyterian Church (added 1975 - - #75001692)
♦ Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
♦ Architectural Style: Other, Colonial
♦ Area of Significance: Politics/Government, Architecture, Social History
♦ Period of Significance: 1800-1824, 1750-1799, 1700-1749
♦ Historic Function: Funerary, Religion

Originally called John’s Island and Wadmalaw Church, the name was shorted to John’s Island Presbyterian Church in 1925. The date of the present church building is under dispute. According to local tradition it was built in 1719 and remodeled in 1792. However, Chancery Court proceedings of 1840 and

John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, as seen looking north along Bohicket Road image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

2. John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, as seen looking north along Bohicket Road

1842 refer to pulling down an old church and rebuilding a new one in 1822. A church school addition was built across the rear of the church in 1935. The frame meeting house church was one of the most prevalent styles of early church architecture in South Carolina. Containing refinements such as fanlights, arched windows, and interior balcony paneling, the church gives evidence of the builder’s attention to details and the wealth and prominence of its members, lowcountry planters. The front façade of this T-shaped clapboard structure consists of two front entryways with three-paneled double doors. Centered between the doors is an arched window with panel shutters. The spoked arch of the window is repeated in the fanlights of the doors. Centered in a boxed gable end is a semi-elliptical wooden fan. The church has beaded siding. The steeply-pitched roof has been covered with asbestos shingles. The church is surrounded by an open grassy area, part of which is the cemetery. Listed in the National Register November 3, 1975.(South Carolina Department of Archives and History).

John’s Island Presbyterian Church is one of 445 American Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Sites registered between 1973 and 2003 by the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS), headquartered in Philadelphia. Approved sites received a metal plaque featuring John Calvin’s seal and the site’s registry number

John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, looking south along Bohicket Road image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

3. John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, looking south along Bohicket Road

(PHS marker location is on a stone monument as part of a gateway to the church entrance).

The following text is taken from the Presbyterian Historical Society website:

Rev. Archibald Stobo, a Presbyterian minister from Scotland who was shipwrecked off a Charleston bar in 1700, organized the congregation in 1710. The present building, constructed in 1719, is the original structure made of hand-sawed lumber and wooden pegs. The congregation enlarged the building by the addition of 20 feet to its length in 1823. The original roof of hand-split black cypress shingles was replaced after the Civil War.

John's Island Presbyterian Church image. Click for more information.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

4. John's Island Presbyterian Church

National Register of Historic Places website entry
Click for more information.

National Register of Historic Places Medallion on left gatepost image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

5. National Register of Historic Places Medallion on left gatepost

John's Island Presbyterian Church (added 1975 - - #75001692)
Lower Medallion-
American Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Site No. 114
Registered by The Presbyterian Historical Society Philadelphia, Pa.

John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, right gatepost image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

6. John's Island Presbyterian Church Marker, right gatepost

John's Island
Presbyterian Church
Organized 1710
Erected About 1719
Lux Lucet In Tenebris
(Light in Darkness)

John's Island Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 6, 2011

7. John's Island Presbyterian Church

John's Island Presbyterian Church with cemetery image. Click for full size.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History: Hillary King & Jamie D., January 26, 2007

8. John's Island Presbyterian Church with cemetery

Credits. This page was last revised on September 4, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 4, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,017 times since then and 104 times this year. Last updated on August 16, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on December 4, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 7, 8. submitted on December 5, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.