Its design was perhaps inspired by St. Mary's Cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland designed by Benjamin Latrobe. Latrobe was the first professionally trained American architect, best known for designing the United States Capitol . The massive brick Presbyterian Church has walls that are three feet thick and covered with stucco.
Twin towers rise above a columned portico.
Reflecting the heritage of the congregation, the seal of the Church of Scotland is displayed in the stained glass window over the main entrance, and the decorative wrought iron grilles contain thistles, the symbol of Scotland. First Scots replaced the congregation's first church, a frame building previously located in the southeast corner of the graveyard. The graveyard contains more than 50 stones that date earlier than 1800. The congregation of First Scots dates to 1731 when 12 Scottish families withdrew from the Meeting House, located at the site where the Circular Congregational Church now stands. These members formed Scot's Kirk or the Scotch Meeting House, and were associated with the Presbytery of Charleston and later the Presbyterian Church of the United States.