Circular Congregation Church & Cemetery

Built about 1806, this small Greek Revival temple with graceful twin stairways and notable wrought-iron railings is a good example of Robert Mills’ ability to design a temple-style building that is stately yet modest in size. Destroyed by fire in 1861 and burned during the earthquake of 1886, the present sanctuary was erected in 1891 using bricks from the earlier temple. The Circular Church established the state’s first Sunday School in South Carolina.

The churchyard, the oldest in Charleston, dates to 1681 during the last years of England’s Charles II. Intricate tombstone artwork vividly conveys the Colonial era’s fascination with and changing portrayals of death.