Presbyterians in McClellanville founded New Wappetaw Presbyterian Church on August 23, 1872. Construction on the sanctuary began in 1874 on land donated by Robert Venning Morrison. The first worship service in the building was held on June 20, 1875, and the church was dedicated by the famous preacher, John Gerardeau, in August 1875. Presbyterian worshippers at Mt. Pleasant, where there had been a chapel prior to the war, established the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church.
The original church site at Wappetaw became “Old Wappetaw.” It is an attractive place, located on Fifteen Mile Landing Road, just a few hundred yards behind the Seewee restaurant. Gravestones of a number of early residents of Wappetaw may be seen.
The name Wappetaw has a pleasant meaning and tells an interesting history.
The Seewee Indians gave the name Wappetaw, meaning “Sweet Water,” to a thin strip of high land between the salt marshes of the Wando River and Seewee Bay in northern Charleston County. The site is about 15 miles north of Mt. Pleasant and about twenty miles south of McClellanville. Travelers along Highway 17 will identify Wappetaw as the locale of the modern Seewee Restaurant and Seewee Outpost.
