Washington Street United Methodist Church

The original church, a plain wooden structure, was completed on the present site in 1804. Washington Street is considered to have the oldest continuous congregation in Columbia and the “Mother Church” of Methodists in the city. The congregation outgrew the original building and a cornerstone was laid in 1831 for a new brick church, which unfortunately burned during the Union occupation February 17-18, 1865. The present church was completed in 1872 and is known for its stained glass windows and Skinner organ. Several renovations and additions have taken place over the years with new structures and courtyard. Its cemetery contains graves of local families and its symbolic unfinished gravestone representing graves of young lives lost. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.