White House United Methodist Church, Orangeburg

White House Church is located about 10 miles north of Orangeburg. The deed by which a 4-acre tract of land on which White House Church stood, along with an earlier structure known as the “White Meeting House,” is the earliest documented record of Methodism in Orangeburg County. The church and property were given to the Methodist Episcopal Church on October 1, 1790. In 1801 and 1803, the society was visited by Francis Asbury, pioneer Bishop of American Methodism. White House United Methodist Church is one of the finer and increasingly rare examples in South Carolina of the popular meeting house-style typical of rural and less affluent church congregations. Built ca. 1850, the church reflects the style’s bare and simple design principles, affording only the essentials needed for worship. This can be seen in the church’s rectangular plan, original clapboard siding and hard hand-hewn pine benches. With the exception of a choir loft, stained-glass windows and carpet, the interior appears much as it originally did. The front portico is a 1939 addition, as are the rooms added to the rear. Sources: NRHP, SCDAHhttps://digitalcommons.wofford.edu/umcschistoric/1144/thumbnail.jp