The Unitarian Church in Charleston was originally built as a second meeting house for the Independent Church in Charleston, also known as the Society of Dissenters, because the congregation needed more space than its Meeting Street location could provide.
This second building was to be Georgian in style, plain brick with two doors and a tower in front.
 Construction began in 1772 and was nearly completed in 1776 when the Revolutionary War began.
 Because both Colonial and British forces quartered militia in the building, it needed considerable repair after the war.
 Unofficially named the Archdale Street Meeting House, it was finally dedicated in 1787.

For 30 years following the dedication, the Meeting Street and Archdale Street churches operated as a single entity.
They shared not only the same two ministers, but the same sermon was delivered each Sunday.
Drs.
Hollinshead and Keith, co-pastors of the church for most of this period, each preached one sermon in both houses each Sunday, alternating morning and afternoon services.
In 1815, one of the co-pastors was the Reverend Anthony Forster.
Forster was married to Altona Gales, the daughter of Joseph Gales, a North Carolina printer and a close associate of Joseph Priestley.
  Gales and Priestley were friends in England, and both fled England to escape religious persecution in 1795-1796.
  Dr. Joseph Priestley was the eminent British Scientist who discovered oxygen and carbonated water.
  Priestly was also a Unitarian Minister, and a dissenter.
When Anthony Forster converted from the trinitarian to unitarian theology in 1817, the congregation split, with 75 members out of 144 leaving the mother church to form an independent church based in the Archdale Meeting House.
 (The original Independent Church on Meeting Street is now the site of the Circular Congregational Church.)
  The new congregation was chartered as the Second Independent Church of Charleston in 1817.

As Forster succumbed to an old Army illness in 1819, Samuel Gilman, a graduate of Harvard College and an “avowed Unitarian”, was hired to complete the slow transition to Unitarianism.
While at Harvard, Gilman wrote Harvard’s alma mater, Fair Harvard.
Gilman’s wife, Caroline Howard Gilman, was a well-known author and poet.
She was inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, to create the churchyard next to the church in the 1830s with beautiful plants and objects; a place to be used by the living.
 Samuel Gillman remained the minister of the church until his death in 1858.
 During his tenure, he was known as a fine speaker and grew the congregation substantially.
 Ralph Waldo Emerson also spoke at the church on two different occasions in 1823.
The church was chartered as the Unitarian Church in Charleston when it joined the American Unitarian Association in 1839.
The Unitarian Church in Charleston was originally built as a second meeting house for the Independent Church in Charleston, also known as the Society of Dissenters, because the congregation needed more space than its Meeting Street location could provide. This second building was to be Georgian in style, plain brick with two doors and a tower in front.  Construction began in 1772 and was nearly completed in 1776 when the Revolutionary War began.  Because both Colonial and British forces quartered militia in the building, it needed considerable repair after the war.  Unofficially named the Archdale Street Meeting House, it was finally dedicated in 1787.
For 30 years following the dedication, the Meeting Street and Archdale Street churches operated as a single entity. They shared not only the same two ministers, but the same sermon was delivered each Sunday. Drs. Hollinshead and Keith, co-pastors of the church for most of this period, each preached one sermon in both houses each Sunday, alternating morning and afternoon services. In 1815, one of the co-pastors was the Reverend Anthony Forster. Forster was married to Altona Gales, the daughter of Joseph Gales, a North Carolina printer and a close associate of Joseph Priestley.  Gales and Priestley were friends in England, and both fled England to escape religious persecution in 1795-1796.   Dr. Joseph Priestley was the eminent British Scientist who discovered oxygen and carbonated water.  Priestly was also a Unitarian Minister, and a dissenter. When Anthony Forster converted from the trinitarian to unitarian theology in 1817, the congregation split, with 75 members out of 144 leaving the mother church to form an independent church based in the Archdale Meeting House.  (The original Independent Church on Meeting Street is now the site of the Circular Congregational Church.)  The new congregation was chartered as the Second Independent Church of Charleston in 1817.
As Forster succumbed to an old Army illness in 1819, Samuel Gilman, a graduate of Harvard College and an “avowed Unitarian”, was hired to complete the slow transition to Unitarianism. While at Harvard, Gilman wrote Harvard’s alma mater, Fair Harvard. Gilman’s wife, Caroline Howard Gilman, was a well-known author and poet. She was inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, to create the churchyard next to the church in the 1830s with beautiful plants and objects; a place to be used by the living. Samuel Gillman remained the minister of the church until his death in 1858.  During his tenure, he was known as a fine speaker and grew the congregation substantially.  Ralph Waldo Emerson also spoke at the church on two different occasions in 1823. The church was chartered as the Unitarian Church in Charleston when it joined the American Unitarian Association in 1839.
Unitarian Church in Charleston