What makes South Carolina, look like South Carolina?

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What one building connects the past, the present, and future generations?  

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It is the church.

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If we wish to keep South Carolina looking like South Carolina, then these sacred places must be preserved, not just for preservation's sake, but for the public good. And there is not a finer collection of historic rural churches in the nation than those clustered like prayer beads along and near Berkeley County's Cooper River. It is time to protect and preserve these buildings and elevate the stories of their faithful congregations.        

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To best understand why Berkeley County is so blessed with historic churches, a bit of history is necessary.

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Many of South Carolina's earliest settlers immigrated to the unsettled colony to make money. Others came seeking freedom of religion, a right that was not available in most of the late seventeenth century world. Africans were bought and brought to the area to work in the fields, enduring harsh conditions while cultivating rice, indigo, and cotton. For much of the eighteenth century, rice was king along the Cooper River. 

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Today, the district and its collection of rural churches and cemeteries, many of which are already listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is a testament to the struggles and triumphs of those who came before us and their unwavering faith in God.  

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Today, tomorrow, or one hundred years from now, when a curious tourist, bus full of school kids, or a group from Europe arrives in the Cooper River Historic District, we wish to present them living and breathing history, to allow them to experience the faith and faithfulness that sustained diverse communities of people through centuries of South Carolina's rich and varied history.