South Carolina Department of Archives and History |
National Register Properties in South Carolina Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lancaster County (off U.S. Hwy. 521, Van Wyck vicinity) |
(Old Waxhaw Cemetery) Scotch-Irish immigrants settled the historic Waxhaws community in the 1750s. These settlers established a Presbyterian meeting house (1755) and cemetery as the center of their community. The original meeting house has been replaced by another church structure but the cemetery remains as one of the oldest historic sites in present day Lancaster County and as a visual reminder of that pioneer settlement. The grounds were part of land that belonged to the Reverend Robert Miller, and the land was deeded to the Presbyterian Church in 1757. The Waxhaw Cemetery is probably the most significant site remaining related to the Revolutionary War Era figures Andrew Jackson, William Richardson Davie, and Andrew Pickens, who contributed to the early development of the state and nation. The cemetery also contains noteworthy examples of eighteenth and nineteenth century tombstones. Many of the eighteenth century tombstones are marked with bas-relief carvings illustrating the lives of the deceased. These stones are flat, vertical tombstones with rounded or scrolled tops. Much of the lettering is clearly carved and is still legible. The vertical eighteenth century stones are distinguishable from the flat, horizontal nineteenth century slabs and massive monuments. Listed in the National Register September 11, 1975.
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