History
Soapstone Baptist Church
In the mid-1860s as many as 600 freed slaves from surrounding South Carolina counties sought a path from being property to owning property. God led them to a rocky outcrop of greenish-black soapstone and the surrounding rolling hills of northern Pickens County. They worked the land and through sales of vegetables and livestock bought acre-by-acre homesteads to support their families. The first “church” was nothing more than a brush arbor atop a rise looking toward iconic Table Rock Mountain to the north. There the families put down spiritual roots that have sustained what became Soapstone Baptist Church and its more than a century and a half legacy. It is the oldest active African American Church in South Carolina.
The Endowment
In 2022, a conservation easement was placed on the 6-acre property, protecting it from future development. Later in June of 2022, understanding the importance of preserving this important historical site, friends of Soapstone Baptist Church created the Soapstone Preservation Endowment to help fund long-term maintenance and protection of the building and grounds. The Endowment is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. The church’s operating costs including salaries, utilities, and routine maintenance are the responsibility of the church’s members.
To learn more about the struggles and successes of Soapstone Baptist Church, visit the church’s website or read more about the story in Clemson University anthropologist John M. Coggeshall’s book, Liberia, South Carolina: An African American Appalachian Community.