Christ the King Catholic Church

Front: In 1930, white Catholic priests in the Redemptorist missionary order assumed charge of local Holy Trinity Parish. In 1939, they opened a mission named “Christ the King” to evangelize to local African Americans. Their first permanent church was built on College Ave. in 1940. It burned in a likely arson days before its dedication. A second church, of Colonial Revival-inspired design, was built here in 1942. Reverse: Classes were initially held here for Christ the King Catholic School. The school was staffed by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, an order of African American nuns, and eventually moved to the site of their convent on Amelia St. Christ the King Church served Black Orangeburg-area Catholics until 1967, when congregants integrated with historically white Holy Trinity Church. The church no longer stands.