Photography by Wayne Moore
Walthourville Presbyterian
Long | Organized 1820
Walthourville Presbyterian is an architectural jewel, preserved almost exactly as it stood when it was built in 1884. The congregation’s story, however, reaches back much further. The first meetinghouse was established in 1820 to serve both Baptists and Presbyterians. A new sanctuary followed in 1845, but it was destroyed by fire in 1877. Rebuilt the next year, that structure was then lost to a storm in 1881. Undeterred, the congregation erected the current sanctuary in 1884 on land purchased from the Walthour estate.
+ Continue readingWalthourville was one of three “Retreat Churches” connected to Midway Congregational Church, founded in 1752. These retreat sanctuaries were built inland, away from the mosquito-ridden swamps that plagued the low country. Flemington Presbyterian was the first, Walthourville the second, and Dorchester Presbyterian the third.
In 1855, thirty-three members of Midway were dismissed to form a new congregation here. When asked whether they wished to remain Congregationalist or join the Presbyterian Church, twenty-two members voted for Presbyterian governance, and Walthourville was officially organized. By 1861, it had become the second-largest congregation in its presbytery and was known for its generous benevolence.
Church records also reveal the complex story of race and worship in the South. In the late 1850s, a small building was erected nearby for Black congregants, where women of the church led Sunday School classes. After the war, those members went on to establish their own churches. Today, the sanctuary remains a beautiful example of 19th-century craftsmanship and a vital link to Liberty County’s early history. Though inactive, it still hosts a homecoming reunion every October. For many years, James Davis and his family lovingly cared for the church, ensuring that this landmark continues to tell its story for generations to come.