Immaculate Conception School

Founded:  1904

200 Coming Street Facility, c.1945Click on the image for a closer look

01/23 

 

Immaculate Conception School was one of two parochial schools for Black Catholics on the Charleston Peninsula.  The first Immaculate Conception Church was a small wooden structure at the corner of Shepard and Coming Streets, dedicated in 1880.  In 1903, two Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, converted the church building into the first school.  In 1917, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first congregation of women religious of African decent, took over school operations for Immaculate Conception School and St. Peter's School, the peninsula's other Black Catholic parochial school on Society Street.  The Oblates constructed a temporary wooden building in the rear of Shepard Street lot for classroom expansion.

In 1923, the Diocese of Charleston erected a new brick church for Immaculate Conception Parish.  However, upon completion, the Diocese chose to use the new structure as additional school space.  By then, Immaculate Conception School occupied the old wooden church, the new brick church, and wooden frame building.  In 1930, with the logistical aid of the Diocese and the financial support of Saint Katherine Drexel, the Oblates and the Holy Ghost Fathers moved Immaculate Conception School to the 200 Coming Street location.  The new school included grades k-12 and served both Immaculate Conception and St. Peter's parishes.

In 1971, for integration and financial reasons, the Diocese of Charleston restructured the parochial schools on the Charleston peninsula.  The restructuring left Immaculate Conception School operating as a 7th - 9th grade campus for all parochial schools on the peninsula.  However, by the following school year, all grades consolidated onto three other campuses and Immaculate Conception closed as a school and facility.  From 1974 until the Roscoe, LLC purchase in 1998, the Diocese leased the property to various incorporated entities and the State of South Carolina. In 2006, a phase II of the “Walk of Faith” Project at St. Patrick was erected as a tribute to the Immaculate Conception School.

For more information on Immaculate Conception School, St. Patrick's Church, and St. Peter's Church click here.


*Exhibit created by Jennifer E. Neal