St. John's Episcopal Church

St. John’s Episcopal Church was established in 1839 after a period beginning in the mid 1820s, where worship services were periodically conducted in Winnsboro by Episcopal missionaries to the South Carolina upcountry.  Rev. Cranmore Wallace was the last missionary, and handed over responsibility to the first rector or St John's in 1841, the Rev. Josiah Obear. The congregation erected a small frame church on Fairfield Street at the site of the present church cemetery. Dedicated by Bishop Gadsden on September 28, 1842, it was the third Episcopal Church to be built north of Columbia. It was burned in the Civil War on February 21, 1865.  A Carpenter Gothic structure was built on Liberty Street to replace it, which was consecrated by Bishop Davis on July 25, 1869. The sermon was delivered by the Rev. William Porcher Dubose, Rector of St. John’s from 1865 to 1867. On March 1, 1888 the second church was also destroyed by fire.  The present Gothic-style brick structure was started in 1888, with the cornerstone being laid by Bishop Howe on November 2. It was designed by architect R. S. Schyler and built by George Waring. The first service in this church was conducted by the Rev. James G. Glass on March 20, 1889. It was consecrated on April 19, 1894, when Bishop Capers preached the sermon and celebrated Holy Communion.