A Walking Tour of Sacred Sites in the Old Commons Neighborhood will be held Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by the Old Commons Neighborhood Association, the tour will open eight churches, a synagogue, and four historic churchyards to the public. Sacred music specific to each faith represented will be provided at four of the sites. A fish fry lunch will be served by members of the Sons of Beaufort Lodge #36, and its circa 1880 meeting hall will be open for the tour.
The tour is a fundraiser to erect an historical marker at Berean Presbyterian Church at 803 Carteret Street, now the newly restored USCB Art Studio. The church, erected in 1881, will be open on the tour. Built as an African-American church, it was converted to use as a meeting hall and library in the 1930s and used as such until integration of the public library. Its Gothic revival architecture is typical of late 19th, early 20th century religious structures in Beaufort including Tabernacle Baptist, First African Baptist and Beth Israel Synagogue.
Others sites on the tour include Beth Israel Synagogue, circa 1905; St. Peter’s Historic Chapel and graveyard, circa 1846; the Tabernacle Baptist Church and graveyard, circa 1893; the Baptist Church of Beaufort and churchyard, circa 1844; the Carteret Street Methodist Church; the Wesley United Methodist Church and churchyard, circa 1849; the contemporary Beaufort Bible Chapel; and the Sons of Beaufort Lodge.
Music will be provided by the Wesley United Methodist Church Choir at 11 a.m.; by Ben-Zion Bronstein, cantorial soloist at Beth Israel at 11:30 a.m.; by Mike McFee, soloist, at Carteret Street Methodist at noon; and by the Youth Bell Choir at the Baptist Church of Beaufort at 1 p.m.
The fish fry, at $9 per person, will be at 607 West Street starting at 11 a.m. Parking is also at 607 West Street. Tickets for the tour are $15 and will be available the morning of the tour along with a walking tour guide at 607 West Street. Call Jerry Stocks at 524-6997 for more information.
