St. Peter's A.M.E. Church

Front: Tradition holds that this African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church first met after the Civil War before organizing in 1867 under Rev. James R. Nesbitt. It was part of the A.M.E. Church’s Walterboro Circuit, which Nesbitt established in 1868. Members acquired this lot for worship in 1875. The congregation was initially known as Walterboro A.M.E. before later adopting the name “St. Peter’s.” Reverse: St. Peter’s was the first A.M.E. congregation in Colleton County and is one of the county’s oldest Black churches. In the years after it was organized, it became an important institution for local Black residents. The wood frame church on the east side of the lot dates to c.1879, when a tornado destroyed every church in Walterboro. It was renovated in 1952, when rooms and the steeple were added to the west side.