City: Georgetown, SC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (843) 546-4358

Address: 700 Highmarket St.

Description: Prince George Winyah is one of the town’s most fascinating examples of historic meeting places. Its story begins in the early 18th century.The Parish of Prince George, formed in 1721, was named for the man who eventually became King George II of England. The first sanctuary was situated in a bend on the Black River, roughly 12 miles north of the current Georgetown location. Due to the area’s growth, the parish divided in 1734. Since the original church fell within the boundaries of the newly established Prince Frederick’s Parish, commissioners were appointed to build a new sanctuary for the Parish of Prince George. The first rector, sent by the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, held the initial service in Prince George on August 16, 1747.The church building was ravaged by enemy troops in both the Revolutionary War and the War Between the States. In 1809, following the American Revolution, the existing gallery and chancel were added. The steeple that overlooks the shady streets of Georgetown was added in 1824.The box pews still used today were a customary feature in colonial churches. Heating systems were nonexistent, so pew owners usually brought charcoal burners to their own “boxes” in winter. The design of the box pews helped to retain some of the heat lost to the beautiful building’s high ceilings. The stained-glass window that graces the back of the altar is English stained glass and was originally in St. Mary’s Chapel at Hagley Plantation on the Waccamaw River. St. Mary’s was a lovely little sanctuary built by Plowden C. J. Weston for his slaves. (Colonial churches did not have stained-glass windows.) The windows on either side of the church were installed early in the 20th century. Four of the original clear windows remain. Prince George is one of South Carolina’s few original colonial church buildings still in use.