Steele Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery

Brick Gothic Revival church and historic cemetery on a tree-shaded rise above Steele Creek Road, southwest of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The sanctuary was completed in 1889 after the congregation's previous brick-less church burned in January 1888; members made the bricks, and H. J. Norris served as contractor. Its pointed-arched windows, crenellated entry towers and steep parapeted gable express the style, and it was regarded as the finest church architecture in rural Mecklenburg when built. The adjoining cemetery holds about 1,700 headstones dating from 1763, including roughly 200 from before about 1820. Many were carved by the Bigham family, whose workshop operated nearby, and the designs include the Scottish thistle, tree of life and family coats of arms. The church, founded by Scotch-Irish settlers, was one of the first seven congregations established in the county, which underlies its significance in early settlement history.