Conway, SC, Part IV: Churches

After the disappointments of this shoot, described in the previous posts in this series, I was able to photograph only two churches in Conway. If I had been able to find the library and museum, it appears I would have run into at least one other church, if not two. 

The first church I came across was First United Methodist at 5th Avenue and Main and Laurel streets. One side of this church, built in 1961, is shown in the lead-off photo, while the main entrance fronting 5th Avenue is immediately below. And below that, is another angle of the side and front together.

This building is the church’s third sanctuary over the years. The first, built in 1844, no longer exists. But the second and third, built in 1989 and 1910, are still on the property and will be shown in photos below. 

A more impressive structure on the property, however, is the church’s fellowship hall, shown in the three photos below. The fellowship hall looks more like a church than the church does. This is the structure built in 1898. The building, according to a Conway online historical website, is in Mission Revival (Spanish Colonial) style with a front-gabled roof and stucco facade. Two square bell towers with shaped parapets and corner posts frame the entrance bay. 

Across Laurel Street, the church also has what signage identify as a Family Life Center, shown in the photo above. And flush with Main Street at 5th Avenue is the 1898 sanctuary, a small edifice pictured in the first image below. It was laid in Flemish bond and features Tudor arched stained-glass lancet windows with lozenges and eaves with exposed rafters and purlin ends. Next to it is the church cemetery, depicted in photos immediately below the brick building below. 

Several blocks away, along Kingston Avenue and 3rd Avenue as well as being very close to a primary access point to the city’s Riverwalk, is Kingston Presbyterian Church, which dates to 1858. It is described in its Wikipedia entry as “an excellent example of Greek Revival ecclesiastical style.” (See photos below). 

Also on the property is a Colonial Revival style brick educational building (not pictured) built in 1956 as well as a church administration building (first photo below), a children’s center next to it (second photo below) and a playground and cemetery (photos below the children’s center). The latter two are closest to the Waccamaw River and Riverwalk. 

As always, if you’d like to view a larger and sharper version of a picture, simply click on the image. To view galleries of the two churches, follow the link in this sentence. 

End of series

Previously in the series:

Part I: The Riverwalk

Part II: Horry County courthouses

Part III: Trees and Downtown Conway