“H” is for Huguenot Church (Charleston)

“H” is for Huguenot Church (Charleston). Located at 140 Church Street, the French Protestant Huguenot church was the first Gothic Revival ecclesiastical building erected in Charleston. It was designed by Edward B. White and is built of brick finished in stucco. The overall composition lacks the intricate stone sculptural details characteristics of medieval European Gothic architecture but blends harmoniously with the color palette and visual textures of Charleston's built environment. Following restoration after the 1886 earthquake, it became a shrine to all Huguenot settlers of the New World and received only limited use for most of the twentieth century. Liturgical tablets and marble memorial plaques dedicated to Huguenot families line the interior walls. Descendants of the original members returned to the Huguenot Church in the early 1980s, rehabilitated the building, and instituted a regular schedule of weekly services and programs.