St. Mark'sEpiscopal Church, Charleston

Since Easter 1865

Our history

St. Mark's was started by Black Episcopalians in Charleston as the Civil War ended. This is the story of the people who founded it, the church they built on Thomas Street, and the ninety years they waited for a full seat in the diocese.

The front of St. Mark's on Thomas Street, with its columns and red doors
The marble marker beside the red doors recording the founding of St. Mark's on Easter Day Easter 1865: how St. Mark's began The first service, the founders and a parish of its own. The nave of St. Mark's looking toward the altar The church on Thomas Street Louis J. Barbot's wooden temple, consecrated in 1878 and now on the National Register. Clergy and members of Calvary, St. Mark's and St. Stephen's gathered together in the church Ninety years for a seat at convention From the 1875 petition to full admission in 1965.

Timeline

  1. 1865

    The first service

    Black Episcopalians with nowhere to worship hold the first service of St. Mark's on Easter Sunday, April 16, and elect officers that same day.

  2. 1866

    A parish of its own

    The congregation organizes as a self-supporting parish, and its charter is registered in Charleston on October 24.

  3. 1870

    Land at Warren and Thomas

    The parish buys a lot at the corner of Warren and Thomas Streets in Radcliffeborough for about $5,000.

  4. 1875

    A cornerstone and a petition

    The cornerstone is laid on Thomas Street. St. Mark's asks the diocesan convention to admit it as a full member.

  5. 1876

    Turned away

    A convention committee argues against seating the parish's delegates, and the convention rejects its application.

  6. 1878

    The church is consecrated

    The new church, designed by Louis J. Barbot, is consecrated on November 8.

  7. 1881

    A first ordination

    Thaddeus Saltus, an assistant minister at St. Mark's, is ordained a priest, the first African American ordained in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.

  8. 1965

    Full admission

    St. Mark's and all the Black congregations of the diocese are fully admitted to the Diocesan Convention, a century after the parish began.

  9. 1980s

    Restoring the building

    A federally funded project stabilizes and rehabilitates the exterior, directed by parishioner and architect Herbert A. DeCosta, Jr., with blacksmith Philip Simmons repairing the fence and gate.

  10. 2026

    The National Register

    St. Mark's is listed in the National Register of Historic Places on January 23.

The people of St. Mark's

Many of the founders came from Charleston's free Black community before the war, and families such as the Walls, Maxwells and DeCostas made St. Mark's their church for generations. Parish records name members who shaped the city far beyond Thomas Street.

Sources

Where accounts disagree, we say so. If you hold records or memories that add to this story, we would love to hear from you.

  1. St. Mark's Episcopal Church records, historical note, College of Charleston Special Collections
  2. Hutchinson Recounts Charleston Church History (2010), drawing on Felder Hutchinson's 1985 oral history, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston
  3. Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, 16 Thomas Street, Discovering Our Past, College of Charleston
  4. St. Mark's Episcopal Church, The Green Book of South Carolina
  5. Our history, The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina
  6. The Whittingham Canon, by George Freeman Bragg (1913), Project Canterbury
  7. Weekly list of actions taken on properties, January 16 to 23, 2026, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places
  8. St. Mark's Episcopal Church, South Carolina Historic Property Record

Come and see for yourself

We gather every Sunday at 10:00 AM at 16 Thomas St.

Plan your visit