Columbia, SC

Bethel AME Church
Founded in 1826, the congregation erected the present sanctuary 55 years later; this three-story structure was designed by John Anderson Lankford, one of the first registered African-American architects in the United States and built in 1921; Sunday worship 8a & 11a; 219 Woodrow Street; 803-779-0138; http://www.bethelcolumbia.net

Bishop’s Memorial AME Church
Built in 1907, this Colonial Revival church was originally named the Woodrow Memorial Presbyterian Church, a memorial to Dr. James Woodrow, an uncle of Woodrow Wilson and a professor at Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Columbia; in 1929 it became Salters Memorial A.M.E. Church and then changed to its current name in 1943; Sunday worship 10a; 2221 Washington Street; 803-254-6686

First Calvary Baptist Church
The congregation first organized in 1865, then in the basement of the Mann-Simons Cottage at the corner of Marion and Richland Streets; Sunday worship 10:30a; 1401 Pine Street; 803-256-3670

Ladson Presbyterian Church
Founded in 1838, its the oldest African American church in the city, Ladson began as a mission of the First Presbyterian Church; Sunday worship 11a; 1720 Sumter Street; 803-765-9192

United House of Prayer for All People
One of many Pentecostal churches around the country founded by Bishop Charles “Sweet Daddy” Grace, a native of the Cape Verde Islands, in the 1920’s.  Today the church is known nationally for its long tradition of feeding and clothing the poor; Sunday worship 11a; 2426 Read Street; 803-254-1246

Zion Baptist Church
Founded in the basement of a house on the corner of Hampton and Gadsden Streets (now the site of the Vietnam Memorial Park) in 1861.  The oldest Black Baptist church in Columbia; Sunday worship 11a; 801 Washington Street; 803-779-2809