Old Sheldon Church Ruins - Yemassee, South Carolina
The Old Sheldon Church was founded in 1745 and constructed between 1751 and 1753, in the small town of Yemassee, in Beaufort county South Carolina. It was originally a part of the former Prince William Parish, now the St. Helena Parish. It was constructed under the authority of, and on land donated by the family of the once Lt. Governor William Bull, and was named for their plantation, located nearby. The compact, one-room structure, with pillars in front, is said to be the first building on American soil built to model an ancient Greek or Roman temple.
During the Revolutionary War, the Sheldon Church was a point of military and political activity, and was used as an armory for weapons and ammunition, which were stored in the Bull family vault. The church was burned in 1779, by troops of British General Augustine Prevoste, and laid in ruins until 1825, when a group of parishioners collaborated to restore the structure. Once thought to have been burned again during the Civil War, more recent information suggests that Sheldon Church was destroyed by local people, to salvage materials to rebuild homes ravaged by the war. It was never rebuilt.
The Sheldon Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, back in October of 1970, and Old Sheldon Church Road is designated as a South Carolina Scenic Byway. The private property is open to the public and immediately off one side of the road, with limited parking on the other. Due to vandalism, theft of bricks and other distasteful activity on the property, a fence was erected around the main structure and burial vaults in 2019.
