Published in The Island Packet August 7, 2010:
Wooden pegs instead of nails hold together the 145-year-old Lady's Island Baptist Church building, just as its heritage and the strength of its congregation have kept it solid, said the church's pastor, the Rev. Samuel T. Spain.

The venerable church will celebrate its anniversary with nightly services beginning Wednesday.

The church was established in 1865, just after the Civil War ended and President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. Newly freed slaves were traveling from Lady's Island to worship at Tabernacle Baptist Church in downtown Beaufort.

"They were in the mind-set that when they came out of slavery it was a blessing to worship as they pleased," said Spain, of the church that was initially led by white ministers. Within the first two years, the Rev. Kit Green became the first black minister.

To avoid having to face the elements while crossing the Beaufort River from Lady's Island to worship at Tabernacle Baptist, a church was established on Lady's Island. The initial building deteriorated. These "devout Christians held their services under the trees until another church was erected," according to the church's history. A new building was constructed with the wooden pegs, which can still be seen through a framed glass cut-out wall in the balcony. The original pillars from the construction of the 1800s still stand, now outlined in gold paint.

"If you ever want to come to Lady's Island Baptist Church, this is the most awesome view of it," said Spain, sitting in the center of the balcony.

In the center of the church is the original gold coal-oil-driven chandelier donated by Tabernacle to its sister church, now converted to electricity.

Each generation of the church has contributed to the expansion of the building, such as the construction of the most recent fellowship hall and steeple through Spain's "Rise Up and Build" undertaking, but members have been careful to preserve the original structure.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/08/07/1330875_religion-news-ladys-island-baptist.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy