Cheraw, South Carolina is a town in Chesterfield County named after an Indian tribe of Pee Dee Indians that had dominated the area until the early 1700s. The first significant European settlement was in 1736 when Welsh Baptists were given a large land grant by the British government. The earliest settlers were from England, Ireland, Scotland and France. The town of Cheraw formed and incorporated in 1820. A fire destroyed most of the business district in 1835, but it was rebuilt and the town prospered until the Civil War. The town was occupied by more of Sherman’s troops than any other in South Carolina, but surprisingly it was largely left intact. Although small, the town has maintained a good portion of the historic feel and there were several older churches in the area.
Old St. David’s was an Episcopal church authorized in 1768 and the graveyard includes some of the British occupying troops from the Revolutionary War. The church building is circa 1870 and the steeple and vestibule were added in 1827. Services were held here until 1916.
Pee Dee Union Baptist Church below is a brick church that replaced a building destroyed by a tornado in 1912. The congregation organized in 1867 as an African-American church after the slaves were freed and dismissed from the Cheraw First Baptist Church.
St. Peter’s Catholic Church is circa 1840 and was the first church on Charleston’s Catholic mission. It was damaged during the Civil War, but a priest restored the church in 1909. The stained glass and new pews were added at that time.
The Old Church Project 