Catholic Churches in Oconee and Pickens Counties
In 1842, the Blue Ridge Railroad decided to build a railroad through Stumphouse Mountain to link Charleston, SC with Knoxville, TN. Several hundred Irishmen, (mostly Catholic) and German immigrants were hired. A new settlement, Tunnel Hill, was established near the construction job and several miles northwest of present day Walhalla. St. Patrick’s, the first Catholic Church west of Columbia, SC was built there and flourished until 1859. The lack of state funding and the Civil War resulted in suspension of the tunnel project. Most laborers returned north; a few remained in the Upstate. The church was used and ravaged by homeless Civil War conscripts. In 1871, the last Mass was celebrated in the remaining church. After that, Mass was celebrated in homes when a mission priest was available, sometimes not for months.
In 1916, St. Francis Church, a mission church, was built in Walhalla. Parishioners donated the land, the lumber, and the manpower. There were less than twelve Catholic families in Walhalla, yet there were other Catholics, who were farmers, who came from miles around to attend church. Mission territory was headquartered in Columbia, Greenville, and then Anderson.
In 1935, St. Andrew’s Chapel was built for the Catholic cadets at Clemson College. The Gothic-style Chapel was constructed of granite quarried in nearby Elberton, GA. The seating capacity of the new church was eighty-four and the Bishop's observation to the thirty people attending the dedication was, "Perhaps we have overbuilt.
By 1940, Oconee and Pickens Counties were ready to become a separate parish numbering 128 Catholics and 52 cadets. The Paulist fathers were asked to serve the two counties. They hoped not only to serve and educate the Catholic population, but also to promote better understanding with their Protestant neighbors. Due to the proximity of Clemson College, St. Andrew’s became the center of the new church. St. Francis became known as the "out-mission.
There were about thirty, mainly Czechoslovakian, Catholic families living in Fair Play. In 1943, St. Ann’s Church was built. In 1944, a Catholic businessman from Philadelphia established a textile woolen mill, employing many of the parishioners. However, the project eventually failed, leading to St. Ann’s demise.
Throughout the 1960’s, many new industries moved into Oconee County. In 1973, Duke Power Company built Lake Keowee. These changes brought many people from the Midwest and Northeast; and the Catholic population grew. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, St. Francis was expanded, adding a new meeting room, classrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen facilities. In 1985 and 1986, Piedmont Quilting Company moved from N.Y. and N.J. to Walhalla. As many of their employees moved with them, a Spanish Mass began to be celebrated at St. Francis.
Anticipating future growth, in 1987, land was bought on Bountyland Road, northwest of downtown Seneca. Both St. Francis and St. Andrew’s were overcrowded. In 1994, St. Paul the Apostle Church was built. The parishes of St. Francis and St. Andrew’s celebrated the Christmas Masses jointly that year. In the words of Father Charles Kullman, CSP, who was instrumental in acquiring the property and starting the building project: "We celebrate because we have hope; hope in our future in this area that we will become, more and more, not just an exotic transplant from someplace else, but a truly indigenous church – genuine South Carolina Catholics.
-- Submitted by: Jane Papineau
