Tabernacle Baptist Church

The Tabernacle was built as early as 1811 by members who separated from the Baptist Church of Beaufort.  After the short-lived separation, the Tabernacle continued to be held and used as a lecture room and for evening worship.

After Federal troops occupied Beaufort in 1861, the Tabernacle became the center for African American religion.

The Tabernacle Baptist Church was organized in 1863 as the first Baptist church for African Americans in Beaufort, South Carolina.

The congregation formally purchased the building and property from the Baptist Church of Beaufort in 1867.

The bell tower was added in 1873.  The building was extensively renovated following the hurricane of 1893.

The Tabernacle Baptist Church cemetery is the final resting place for General Robert Smalls, Beaufort’s most prominent African American political figure.