1043 Founders Lane
Little Chapel Exterior
Little Chapel Interior
The Little Chapel was designed in the Federal style by architect Robert Mills, a South Carolinian famous for his design of the Washington Monument. Erected as a stable and carriage house for Ainsley Hall mansion in Columbia, S.C., it eventually became property of the Presbyterian Church and was used by the Columbia Theological Seminary. In 1886, when David Bancroft Johnson founded the Winthrop Training School for Teachers, the chapel became the original classroom for this innovative new school. In 1936 the chapel was given to Winthrop by the seminary, and the structure was moved to Rock Hill, where it was reconstructed brick by brick. The Little Chapel underwent a renovation in 2005, at which time a bronze bust of Johnson was relocated from front campus to the chapel. The bust overlooks a unique public art sculpture garden.