Originally built by the Society of Dissenters in 1776, the Unitarian Church of Charleston story is as historic as it is imperative to this cultural South Carolina city. Documents report that before the construction was completed, the Brits utilized the house of worship as housing for its militia. More than a decade later, the church was officially dedicated in 1787 under the name The Archdale Street Meeting House.
Church member and architect Francis D. Lee was commissioned to enlarge and remodel the building in 1852. English architecture was the inspiration: a fan-vaulted ceiling, nave and chancel are named distant cousins to their English prototypes; the stained glass windows were considered exceptional by American standards. The style is referred to as English Perpendicular Gothic Revival. It has been suggested the UCC could have been the first Gothic architecture built in the United States.