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St. James the Greater Catholic Mission
St. James the Greater Catholic Mission is located in South Carolina
St. James the Greater Catholic Mission
St. James the Greater Catholic Mission is located in the United States
St. James the Greater Catholic Mission
Location3087 Ritter Rd., south of Walterboro, South Carolina
Coordinates32°46′36″N 80°39′44″W / 32.77667°N 80.66222°W / 32.77667; -80.66222
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1833 (1833)
Architectural styleGothic Revival
NRHP reference No.15000676[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 29, 2015

The St. James the Greater Catholic Mission is a Black Catholic church in southern Colleton County, South Carolina. The site has been used since 1833 by an African-American congregation, and is extremely rare for its remarkably intact campus.[2]

The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.[1]

History[edit]

The parish was established in 1833 by Bishop John England, after a number of local plantation owners and their slaves converted to the Catholic faith. The church was burned down in 1856, and the slavers moved away soon thereafter when their slaves were freed.

The slaves, on the other hand, largely remained and kept the faith despite the lack of a building or priest. One particularly zealous man, Vincent de Paul Davis, served as the local catechist, godfathering many young children baptized into the faith at churches in surrounding areas.

In 1892, Fr Daniel Berberich, SAC, came across the community and began to celebrate Mass for them and helped them build a new church in 1894. Soon after a school was added. The present building came in 1935.[3]

Building[edit]

The complex includes a shingled Gothic Revival church built in 1935, a small school building dating to 1901, and cemetery with burials dating back to 1835.

In popular media[edit]

A documentary on the church and its community, "We Came A Long Way By Faith: Catholic Hill and St. James the Greater Catholic Church", was released in 2020.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "NRHP nomination for St. James the Greater Catholic Mission". South Carolina SHPO. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  3. ^ "Living stones: Black Catholics in America". Catholic News Herald. November 8, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Wingard, George (May 6, 2020), We Came A Long Way By Faith: Catholic Hill and St. James the Greater Catholic Church, retrieved April 1, 2021


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._James_the_Greater_Catholic_Mission